Back to Before
by xXPeaceBabesXx
Summary: I'm re-doing the entire series. And this time some new people are joining the gang from Duelist Kingdom and on. Rated T for more Violence and language. JoeyxOC, cause I'm evil like that.
1. The Bloodcurdling Blue Eyes

Hey, this is xXPeacebabesXx, or rather one half of them. I am the author of Start All Over and Interference, my Danny Phantom Stories. But, I'm into something new, it's called Yu-Gi-Oh!

Well, I've seen a couple of these stories on FF, where the whole series is revamped. I saw one where there were OC's and stuff. But they were all with Yami, so I'm doing something new, I'm pairing up someone with Joey Wheeler. If you don't like it, then don't read, cause I'm not gonna tolerate flames and crap. And just so you know, it won't be all Mary-sue either, I'm not gonna pair them up immediately, what fun is that? lol

Well, before I get on with it, I'm gonna tell you guys about my OC.

Her name is Elisa Kura, 16 years old, about 5'4", long dark brown hair, and brilliant sapphire blue eyes. Kinda shy, loves to play duel monsters, And before I go on, don't hate me, I'm giving Elisa a Millennium Item. It's called the Millennium Medallion. It is a six-pointed gold star with the Millennium Symbol in the front, and it can mimic the other Millennium Item's powers. I'm not gonna tell you anything else, so you'll have to figure it out for yourself.

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will ever own Yu-Gi-Oh! If I did, there would be people paired up with the main characters.

* * *

I took a deep breath before starting to walk into the school. The air was still heavy from the rain that poured the night before. "It's now or never." I sighed. I straightened my blue skirt and my pink blazer before walking through the doors at Domino High School. _God I hate this uniform. Back at my old school I never had to wear one. _I walked into the main hall, not sure where to go. I grumbled and pulled out my schedule. _4B? Where the hell would that be?_

"Hello?"

I gasped in surprise and whirled around to see a woman in a dress suit looking at me expectantly. "Um, hi. I'm Elisa Kura. New student." I smiled hesitantly at her. Her expression softened and she smiled.

"Oh, Can I help you to the room you're supposed to be in?"

I handed her my schedule, "That would be great. Thank you."

She scanned the piece of paper before giving it back to me. "4B, Okay, follow me. I know who to introduce you to." She turned and beckoned me to follow her down the hall.

"Where did you move from?"

"California. Sacramento to be more exact." I answered her. I frowned; I never _wanted_ to move. I wanted to stay in sunny California, but _no _I had to move here. I grumbled under my breath until we stopped outside of a classroom.

"Well, I wish you good luck here in Domino." She smiled, "In this room you should meet a boy named Yugi Motou and his friends Joey Wheeler, Tea Gardener, and Tristan Taylor."

"Thanks. I really appreicate it." I nodded in gratitude. I watched her leave and walked into the classroom. I immediatly saw a small group of people in the corner, playing Duel Monsters by the sound of it.

"Hey Joey, earth to Joey!" The one kid, who had tri colored hair, grinned as he tried to get his friend's attention.

The other, I was guessing Joey, was contemplating his next move but another with an odd hairstyle runs up and puts him into a headlock.

"Aww, isn't he cute when he's thinking?"

Joey held up his cards, "Hey Tristan, Yugi here is teachin' me how to play Duel Monsters."

Tristan looked confused, "Drooling Monsters?"

Joey pushed Tristan away, "'Duel Monsters' ya nimrod!"

I chuckled and walked up to the group. "Hey, I know a thing or two about Duel Monsters."

The kid with Blonde, Black, and Magenta hair looked up from his cards and to me. His Amethyst eyes were open and friendly. "Hey, I've never seen you here before, are you new?"

I smiled a little, was I going to be known as the new kid now? "Yeah, I'm Elisa, Elisa Kura. But I'm guessin' you're Yugi. 'Cause some teacher said to look for a Yugi and his friends."

"Well dat's us! I'm Joey Wheeler!" Joey said, pointing to himself. he pointed to the brunette next to him, "That's Tristan Taylor." And he pointed to a girl over a bit, "And that's Tea Gardener."

"And I'm Yugi Motou." Yugi grinned before picking his cards up again, "So, you know how to play?"

"Yeah. I love the game, it's something to do with friends, and playing in the local tournaments is fun." I said, "But don't let me distract you guys, continue." I walked to stand next to Tristan, "So, you really don't know how the game works?"

Tristan shook his head, "No, I don't."

"Okay Yugi, it's time to Duel!" Joey threw down a card.

I took this as an opportunity to explain how to play the game, "See, each card has an attack number and a defense number. First player to reduce their opponent's life points to zero wins the duel."

"Pretty good move, eh Yugi?" Joey smirked.

"Yep, pretty good move." Yugi placed a card from his hand and onto the field. "But, not good enough." It was a Blackland Fire Dragon.

"Nice, sorry Joey, but looks like your monster's gone." I said.

Joey slammed his hands onto the table, "What? Thanks a lot, a card that powerful totally wipes me out." He looked away in annoyance.

"Wow Joey, you stink at this game." Tristan teased gis friend.

"Nah, you did fine Joey. I just have better cards. See my Grandpa owns a game shop and I get all of my best cards from him." Yugi explained sheepishly.

"Whoa, talk about first pick." I laughed.

Joey rushed to his feet, "Your own game shop? What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Okay! Maybe I can get Grandpa to show us this awesome super rare card he's got." Yugi smiled at me, "You can come too Elisa. If you want to."

I smiled, "Sure, why not?" I then thought of something, "Hey, could you maybe get a job for me there, I'm lookin' for some extra spending money."

Yugi nodded, "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

"Grandpa! I'm home!" Yugi called as we walked into his game shop.

"And I see you brought company." The older man smiled warmly at us as we walked to the counter.

"Gramps, can you show my friends your super rare card?" Yugi asked.

"Rare card? My special card?" contemplated this for a few moments. "Hmmm..."

Yugi brought his hands together, "Please, please!" He pleaded.

_This card must be pretty rare for them to be acting like this._ I tilted my head slightly.

"Pretty please?" Joey asked.

Mr. Motou suddenly grinned, "Ha ha! How can I refuse?" He pulled a small brown box from out under the counter, "You kids are in for a treat. Ready? Here it is, the Blue Eyes White Dragon."

My eyes widened, "No way! That's one of the most rare and powerful cards in all of Duel Monsters."

He inclined his head to meet my gaze, "Ho ho! I see you know your cards. may I ask who you are? Are you a new friend of my Yugi?"

I blushed and rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment. "I guess you could say that."

"This is Elisa Kura, a new student at our school Grandpa." Yugi introduced me, "And later I'd like to talk to you about employment for her."

"Good idea, I've been meaning to look for new candidates, but as you said later." Mr. Motou smiled, "But anyway, this is a card so rare, so powerful, I'd never let it leave my sight."

Tristan took the card from Mr. Motou's grasp, "Uh...I...Tristan?" I sweat-dropped.

"Doesn't look all that special to me." Tristan said, and Mr. Motou grabbed from him.

"This card is _pricless! _There are only _four_ in all the _world_!" Mr. Motou exclaimed frostily. At this point he was keeping the card from whoever would snatch it again.

"Speakin' of priceless, I'm ready to trade." Joey grinned.

"Not for this card!"

Joey looked clueless, "Huh? Naw, i didn't mean that card. I meant show me some other cool cards to get me started." He started to browse the other cards around him.

A ringing alerted me as I realized that the door opened behind me. I turned to see a boy that Joey told me about earlier, the president of KaibaCorp, Seto Kaiba.

"Hello! Can I help you?" Mr. Motou smiled warmly past us.

"If you can't, it certainly wouldn't surprise me."

The others turned around at this point, "Seto Kaiba?"

"Kaiba!" Joey exclaimed.

"Doesn't he have a big fancy company to run? What's he doing down here?" Tristan asked.

I crossed my arms over my chest, "Well, I wouldn't know. But let's see what he wants."

"Not that it's any of your business, but I came to see the card." Kaiba said.

Joey stepped forward, "Hey, are you into Duel Monsters too? This is perfect, maybe we can all duel together sometime." he smiled.

"Me? Duel you? I'd have more of a challenge playing solitaire." Kaiba smirked.

"What?"

"I am the number one ranked duelist in the country and the favorite to win the Duel Monsters' championship. You wouldn't last two minutes in a duel against me." He looked away mockingly now.

Joey scowled, "Ooh, I'm shakin', maybe you'd like to settle this with fists instead of cards."

I jumped in, "Take it easy Joey, he's not worth getting in trouble over."

He looked at me, "But Elisa, Kaiba's askin' for it."

"I don't care, punks like him aren't worth your time." I turned to glare at the billionaire. _I do not like this guy._

_"_Now does this shop have any worthwhile cards...!" Kaiba's eyes widened. He rushed past us, bumping into me and causing me to jump back and bump into Joey.

"I'm sorry Joey."

"It's fine."

"Can it be? The Blue Eyes White Dragon? in this dump?" Kaiba was obviously astonished.

"What's it to ya?" I grumbled.

Mr. Motou closed the box, "Well that's enough window shopping, is there something else I can help you with?"

Kaiba scowled and glared at the old man before swinging his briefcase onto the counter, catching Mr. Motou by surprise, and opened it. "Listen to me old man. Give me your Blue Eyes card and I'll trade you all of these."

"Whoa!" We gasped in unison, there were a lot of rare cards in that case that I've never seen before. So, I couldn't help but be impressed.

"Ah, nice. But no thanks."

"Huh?"

Kaiba growled, "Fine, if you won't trade then maybe you'll sell it. Name your price, I can pay anything you ask."

"I'm sure you can. But this card means more to me than any offer, not because of it's power, or because it's so rare. But because of what it means to me. This card was given to me by a dear friend. And so I treasure this card as I do that friend. So parting with it is completely out of the question." Mr. Motou gazed at Kaiba without flinching.

"You'd feel the same way, even if it were a common card. Right, Grandpa?" Yugi chimed in.

"Exactly, see this precious card has bonded with my heart."

Kaiba slammed his case shut, "Fine!" He stormed away and to the door, "I've heard enough of your nonsense!" He stalked out.

"Well, that was fun." I said.

"So Elisa, were you looking for work?" Mr. Motou placed the box away.

I nodded, "Yeah, I don't get an allowance, so I need to work for my money. I promise to work hard."

He laughed, "Well good. Because you start next week after school."

I brightened, "Thank you Mr. Motou!"

* * *

"Man, I hope your Gramps has cool cards today." Joey said.

"Me too." I agreed. We were walking from school to the Game shop again. And I was excited to spend time with my new friends, _See, moving wasn't so bad. At least you got to meet nice people._

"Okay Gramps, I'm back to get more cards!" Joey called as we walked into the shop.

"Mr. Motou!" I called.

"Grandpa!" Yugi called, "I'm home!"

"Maybe he went out." Tea suggested.

"Maybe, but why would he leave the door unlocked? Something's up." I said as the phone rang. Yugi went to it and picked it up.

"Hello? Game Shop." Yugi said into the phone. I watched as his expression turned to confusion, "Kaiba?" then it turned to shock, "Kaiba! What have you done? Kaiba!"

"What's going on Yugi?" I asked as he hung up.

"My Grandpa's at KaibaCorp." he replied, stunned.

"Well, come on. let's go and get him." Tristan said.

* * *

We were running as fast as we could through the doors at KaibaCorp.

"I'll get a headstart and look for Kaiba, seeing how he is, I know what may be going on." I yelled back to them.

"Okay 'Lisa, hurry back!" Joey said.

I nodded and sprinted until I saw Kaiba walking. Smugness was radiating from him. I walked slowly and softly so he wouldn't be able to detect me.

"How's the old man feeling? Hm?" Kaiba asked, his voice was cold and sarcastic.

"Kaiba! You sleaze! What did you do to him?" Joey demanded.

_So, they're here already? Wow, that was quick._

"We had a duel, that's all. Each of us putting up our most powerful card for the prize. But I guess playing against me was too much stimulation for the old fool." He paused. I got closer, I knew that Kaiba had Mr. Motou's Blue Eyes White Dragon card, and I had a bad feeling about it.

"Kaiba! You should be ashamed of yourself!" Tea shouted.

"It was fair." Kaiba took a card out.

_It's now or never! And...go!_ I sprinted out and snatched the card from Kaiba, I fell to the ground and rolled away from him. I grunted as I got up, I felt proud when i saw the shocked and angry expression on Kaiba's face.

"I know what exactly you were gonna do with this card. You were planning to tear it up so it wouldn't be used against you, so it wouldn't be a _threat_." I scowled at him. "That's no way to be better than someone else."

"He what!" The others exclaimed.

"Yes, it is true that i didn't want such a rare and powerful card used against me." Kaiba replied, his expression was furious.

"Thank you Elisa, for saving my treasure." Mr. Motou groaned in pain.

"Grandpa!" Yugi glared at Kaiba, "How could you?"

"Yugi...here." Mr. Motou went to hand his grandson something, "Take this."

"Huh? Grandpa?"

"I built this deck, I put my soul into these cards. And I taught you everything I know Yugi. Take them, take these cards and teach him respect. Teach Kaiba respect for the heart of the cards Yugi." Mr. Motou insisted.

"Grandpa no! You need help, I've got to get you to a doctor!" Yugi protested.

"Yugi." I whispered.

"Sounds like an excuse, your friends can care for your grandfather, while you and I duel. Unless you're...afraid." Kaiba taunted him.

"Take 'im Yugi!" Joey shouted, "We can take care of your grandpa, while you take care of Creepy Kaiba. Teach that rich spoiled brat what a real duel's about!"

"For your Grandpa Yugi." I walked over to the gang.

Yugi was unsure, "I don't know."

Joey, however, looked _determined._ "Trust me, you're like the best player I know, and you have the Millennium Puzzle! You can do this Yugi, I _know_ you can."

"We _all_ do." Tea said.

"Okay Grandpa, I'll do it." Yugi took the deck from his grandfather.

"I know you will my boy."

"Everyone put their hands together." Tea held up a marker as we did what she said, and she drew a smiley on our hands.

I sweat-dropped, "Uh...Tea?"

"What gives Tea?" Joey gawked at the marker on our hands.

"it's a symbol of our friendship, so whenever Yugi's dueling, no matter how tough it is, he'll know that he's not alone. And we're all right there with him." Tea explained.

Yugi nodded, "Right."

"Stay here with Yugi Elisa. We'll take grandpa." Joey said to me.

"Right, okay." I nodded, and as they left us Kaiba walked up to me and glared at me menacingly. "What?" I demanded.

"Give me the card."

"If you win, you can have it. But until then, it's Yugi's." I scowled at him.

"Fine then. Follow me." Kaiba huffed and stalked away. Yugi and I glanced at each other before following.

* * *

"I've designed this virtual stadium myself. Impressive hmm?" Kaiba smirked, "I think you'll agree, it adds a bit more life to the game."

They were on top of some platforms, while i was in the stands, ready to cheer Yugi on. Then,without warning, my Medallion started to glow, making me more confident of my surroundings. **(AN: XD, haha! Now you know some more about her item. Although, it's like one of two times that's it's mentioned in the entire chapter.)**

"We each begin with 2000 life-points, first player to hit zero, loses." The platforms stopped, "Are you ready to play, runt?"

"Playtime is _over _Kaiba!" Yugi exclaimed and his Millennium Puzzle started to glow brightly, making me shut my eyes.

"Heh, what the?" Kaiba grimaced.

"Yugi?" my voice rang in confusion. _Was that _me_?_ I was totally confused now.

"Now Kaiba, prepare yourself. Because it's time to duel!" Yugi exclaimed.

"Virtual systems ready. So, let's begin!"

Kaiba- 2000

Yugi- 2000

Kaiba placed a card on the field, "I attack with the Hitat-sume Giant. Brace yourself Yugi, you've never dueled like this before." The air started to shimmer, and a giant green monster appeared.

"A real monster!" I stumbled back half a step before regaining my posture.

"he's brought the monster on the card to life!" Yugi exclaimed.

"It's my virtual simulator. It creates life-like holograms of every Duel Monster."

"So, this is how you beat my Grandfather. Now it's my turn! I call on Winged Dragon Guardian of the Fortress!" Yugi summoned his own monster, a blue dragon appeared onto the field.

"They're huge!" I exclaimed.

"Wha-! Monsters! Real Monsters!" Joey exclaimed after he came to a stop next to me.

"They're not real Joey. They're _holograms_, but they _look_ real all the same." I was still in awe.

"Fire-ball attack!" Yugi commanded his monster. The dragon let loose fire and it destroyed the giant on the spot.

Kaiba- 1800

Yugi- 2000

"Big brother, are you alright?" A small black-haired boy ran to Kaiba's side.

"Kaiba has a brother?" I whispered, my eyes narrowed, I looked up to watch Kaiba's life-points drop.

"Alright! Go Yugi!" Joey cheered.

"Nice work!"

Kaiba drew his card, "heh, well played Yugi, for a beginner. But how will you deal with this?" A monster was summoned, it was Saggi the Dark Clown.

I wrinkled my forehead in confusion, "Why did Kaiba play that card?" I tilted my head to the side.

"Saggi the Dark Clown? But that card has hardly any attack strength." Yugi was confused also.

"True, your dragon's attack is 1400, while my dark clown's only 600. But if I combine it with this card..."

Yugi scowled and his eyes narrowed, "A magic card?"

"Exactly, the Negative Energy Generator, it multiplies my monster's attack by three." The monster grew as it's attack increased. "Dark Clown, attack with dark light!" The clown shot a sphere of dark energy at Yugi's Winged Dragon, destroying it.

Kaiba- 1800

Yugi- 1600

"As you can see, combining magic cards can be very effective."

_Kaiba sure knows what he's doing. he isn't the country's champion by mistake._ I frowned.

" 'Lisa, what do you think?" Joey snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Kaiba is a good duelist, I'll give him that. But Yugi will win." I glanced at the blonde before focusing on the duel again. Yugi put another card down, only this time in defense mode.

"Dark light attack!" Kaiba shouted, almost laughed as his clown defeated the monster.

"Hang in there Yugi!" Joey slammed his fists on the seats in front of us.

More and more of Yugi's monsters were sent to the graveyard, obviously he hadn't found one that was strong enough to beat the clown yet. But as long as they were in defense mode, Yugi's life points were safe, for now anyway.

"You're not faring any better than the old man did Yugi. Your deck is just as weak and feeble as he is!" Kaiba sneered.

"My grandpa is a great man! And a better duelist than you'll ever be! He entrusted me with his cards, and I can feel his heart in his deck. I doubt you have that kind of faith in _your_ deck Kaiba!" Yugi's eyes narrowed.

"Wha-?"

Yugi drew a new card, "But I believe in my grandpa's cards." He looked intently at the card he drew, "And my faith rewards me with Gia The Fierce Knight!" The Knight appeared on the field, at a staggering 2300 attack points.

"Awesome card!" I commented. The knight went at the clown, piercing it with it's mighty lance.

Kaiba- 1300

Yugi- 1600

"Way to go Yugi!" Joey threw his hands up in celebration.

"Alright Kaiba, your move." Yugi crossed his arms and waited.

"heh, this'll be over sooner than you think." Kaiba promised, "I call on the Blue Eyes White Dragon!" the Dragon roared as it appeared.

"Wha-!" I pulled out the same card.

"Impossible, Elisa has the card right here!" Joey shouted.

"Surprised? Did you think that your grandfather was the only one to possess a Blue Eyes White Dragon?" Kaiba smirked. The dragon used it's White Lightning attack and it connected with the Knight, disintegrating it.

Kaiba-1300

Yugi-900

"Hah! Your _Fierce Knight_ is gone!" Kaiba sneered. "Faith or o faith, you _will_ fall before my superior monsters Yugi. Power is what this game is all about you fool. Faith is for losers! Like your pathetic grandfather." The dragon kept destroying monsters after that. And since the dragon had 3000 attack points, it was almost impossible to beat. But there is one monster that can do it, only one that was extremely rare enough that most duelists didn't even have a clue where to get one. "So, what do you hope against two?" Kaiba then summoned a second Blue Eyes White Dragon to the field.

"What! _Two_ Blue Eyes?" My voice went up an octave.

"Why don't you just admit defeat Yugi?" Kaiba suggested.

"I won't give up, grandpa is counting on me!" Yugi gasped at his next card, "Swords of Revealing Light!" Yugi activated the magic card. "It stops all enemy monsters from attacking for three turns."

"Good move Yugi, now Kaiba cannot attack!" I grinned, "It gives him some time."

"How desprate, what good could a three turn delay help you?" Kaiba asked.

_What can it do? What if I'm wrong, does Yugi's grandpa's deck hold the cards necessary to defeat these dragons, and Kaiba?_

_"_Quit your stalling Yugi!" Kaiba shouted, "Or you will forfeit the match!"

"I _never_ forfeit!" I could see Yugi's eyes widen at the next card he drew.

"Draw any card, you won't change a thing. My dragons may be frozen for two more turns, but my monster is not under such spell." Kaiba then summoned another monster. "The Judge Man with an attack power of 2200."

"Dark Magician! Attack!" Yugi summoned a monster with an attack power of 2500 and it destroyed the Judge Man. "Your Judge Man falls!"

Kaiba-1000

Yugi-900

"Oh, a sacrifice that doesn't even faze me. And although two of my dragons cannot move for one more turn, my next card is, The _third_ Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

"So Kaiba had the other three Dragons in his deck the entire time?" I was astonished, _no wonder why Kaiba wants Mr. Motou's card._

"Now my Dragon, attack!" The Blue Eyes destroyed the Dark magician. I had to shield my eyes from the bright light.

Kaiba-1000

Yugi-400

"So tell me Yugi, how's your faith now? On my next turn all three of my Blue Eyes White Dragon's can attack, this game's over! No matter what card you draw!" Kaiba said, "You can't possibly stop my three Blue Eyes White Dragons, it's over Yugi. You were never a match for me."

"Don't listen Yugi!" Joey called.

"Listen to us, Kaiba can't break faith in you. Remember why you're doing this!" I yelled to him.

"I've got to believe in the cards like my friends believe in me." Yugi smiled and drew his next card.

"Draw your last pathetic card so I can end this Yugi." Kaiba said.

"My Grandpa's deck has no _pathetic _cards Kaiba, but it does contain this: the unstoppable Exodia!"

"I knew it! Exodia _was_ in Mr. Motou's deck!" I jumped into the air and smiled.

"Ahh, impossible!" Kaiba cringed in fear.

"I've assembled all the special cards, all five pieces of the puzzle." An eight-pointed star appeared and a monster started to emerge. This was the first time I've ever seen Exodia be summoned.

"Exodia? It's impossible! No one has ever been able to call him!" Kaiba stammered.

"Exodia, Obliterate!" Yugi shouted at his unstoppable beast. The monster destroyed the three dragons effortless, and Kaiba's life-points flew to zero.

Kaiba- 0

Yugi- 400

"He did it! Yugi did it!" I shouted, my Millennium item glowed and I hugged Joey in victory. But I froze and broke away blushing. "Sorry."

"It can't be, my brother _never_ loses!" Kaiba's brother blinked in surprise.

"You play only for power Kaiba. And that's why you lost, but if you put your heart in the game, there's _nothing_ you can't do." Yugi smiled.

"But, but how? How could I have lost to _him_?" Kaiba demanded, mostly to himself.

"Kaiba, if you truly want to know, then open your mind!" Yugi shouted. And Kaiba fell to his knees. "There Kaiba, maybe now you'll begin to see." The platform moved down to the ground.

"Come on 'Lisa!" Joey took me by the hand.

"Okay Joey! I'm comin'!" I laughed as he drug me to where Yugi was. Yugi met us half way and I took the fourth Blue Eyes White Dragon out of my jacket and gave it to him. "There ya go Yugi. Make sure this gets back to your grandfather, unharmed mind you."

"Thank you Elisa." Yugi smiled.

* * *

HOLY CRAP! 5001 words! I can't believe how long it took me to write this. I hope you liked it, and if you didn't, oh well. I'm gonna write it anyway. XD. Please review and continue to read this story, it makes me happy. and to the people that _do_ review, you guys get to give Yugi and Joey a hug. They need it after what I put them throughout the series.


	2. The Gauntlet is Thrown

Sorry for not updating earlier, school and such. I've had this chapter written too, just not online. I hope you guys enjoy it and that I'm not talking to myself.

So, please read and review, I can't improve without criticized work. Just, don't kill me or anything.

* * *

"Joey, make a move already." Tristan chuckled.

I laughed silently; I had known these guys for about a month now, and Joey's dueling skills really hadn't improved.

The blonde smirked before making his move, "Kay, here ya go tough guy!" He threw down his card.

I just glimpsed at Téa, and she glanced at her face down monster card and flipped it up. It was Happy Lover, with an attack of 800 and a defense of 500. But she also didn't look too worried. Hmm…

"Yeah Téa, like that wimpy card has a chance against my giant rock guy. Give it up!" Joey started to laugh in victory.

"I _guess_ I don't stand a chance, unless…" Téa placed a spell card on the field. "I use the Breath of Light card."

Joey looked lost, "Huh? Can she do 'dat?" He stared at the card, as if though it would start giving him all the answers.

Sorry Joey, cards don't work that way. If they did, well, I would have won a lot more duels. Heh heh.

Yugi started to help the poor kid, "Oh yeah, the Breath of Light card wears down rock mosters. Turns them to rubble!"

"Uh-oh, looks like you're in trouble now, Joey." I crossed my arms and watch him sweat-drop.

"That brings your life points to zero, Joey. Once again you lose and I rock!" Téa was enjoying this a little _too_ much.

Tristan laughed, "You _stink_ at this game."

"Ugh!" Joey face-planted on the table.

* * *

Yugi, Joey and I were hanging out ourselves by the west end of campus, Joey looked plain downcast. I actually felt sorry for the boy.

"Tristan's right, Yugi. I _do_ stink. I can't win at Duel Monsters to save my life. What is it? Why can't I ever win? Teach me what I'm doin' wrong!" Joey pleaded.

I uncrossed my arms and walked to Joey's one side, "First of all, stop whining. Second of all: Let me see your deck." I held out my hand expectantly.

"M-kay." Joey fished his deck out of his jacket pocket and handed it to me. "Here ya go."

I smiled warmly and started to go through his deck, I was sure that my expression changed exponentially as I rifled through his deck. "Wha-!" I blinked. I shook my head and gave the deck to Yugi. He had mirrored my reaction almost perfectly.

"How's line up? Pretty good, doncha think?"

"No one can win with these." Yugi raised an eyebrow.

"Joey, your deck is filled with nothing but monster cards." I was still dumbfounded. I was sure that Joey had to have some type of concept to this game, but, I guess not. Oh, Joey. I shook my head.

"You got it! I packed it with every butt kicking monster I could find." Joey grinned.

"But that's not how the game works." I frowned at his logic.

"Huh?" Joey looked clueless. Yeah, I know. Not much of a surprise there.

"_Duel _Monsters is all about _combining _your monsters with your magic cards to increase their strength." Yugi said, "With no magic in your deck, your monsters will get creamed every time."

Joey ran from his spot to face us up close, almost in desperation. "See! That's the kind of stuff I need to know! Guys, you gotta help me learn more!"

* * *

We walked into the Game Shop, the door ringing behind us. I was gonna start my shift, while Joey got some help from Mr. Motou. Poor man, he's gonna have a hard time with this kid.

"My Grandpa's the _real_ game expert in the family, maybe he can help." Yugi smiled, and stopped right inside. "Hey Grandpa, I brought you a new student!"

"Huh? Student?" Mr. Motou sounded confused, but then it melted away when he saw me, "Ah, Elisa, there's some new merchandise you need to unpack. It just came in."

"Sure thing, Mr. Motou." I placed my bag beside the counter.

"I was hoping since you know more about Duel Monsters than anyone, maybe you'd teach me." Joey asked tentatively, I could hear the nervousness in his usually easygoing tone.

Mr. Motou scrutinized the blonde, "Teach you? Duel Monsters is a very complex game."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Téa beat me three games in a row."

"Actually Joey, Téa beat you _five_ games in a row." I corrected him while pulling out merchandise from the boxes.

Joey looked shocked. But how could he? It's not like he would forget something like- ah, who am I kidding? Joey would totally do that.

"_Five_! Aw man!" He glanced from me to the tournament poster that Mr. Motou just finished putting up.

"Hm, yes. I could teach you to be a great tournament duelist." Mr. Motou met his gaze steadily, "But only if you're willing to spend endless days and sleepless nights, filled with rigorous training."

"Heh, piece of cake." Joey smirked.

Mr. Motou glowered at Wheeler, "With an attitude like that, teaching you may not be worth my effort!"

Joey cringed, "Ahh!"

"Nice going, Smart-Mouth." Yugi scoffed. He shook his head and smirked at me and I returned the grin.

Joey got to his knees and started to beg Yugi and his grandpa. "Please Yugi, you gotta help me convince him. I will work hard, I promise!" He pleaded.

I giggled, "I could totally put _this_ on the internet. Joey Wheeler: The boy who's pride is being flushed down the toilet." I snorted and returned to my work.

"Listen, Joey, teaching your Duel Monsters is too big a challenge, even for my grandpa." Yugi frowned at his friend, while Mr. Motou just nodded in silent considerment.

"It's not...impossible."

Joey looked up at him, "You mean it, gramps?"

"Joey, he already said he couldn't do it. And if he can't do it, then he can't do it." Yugi smiled a little at the blonde.

"I never said I _couldn't_ do it. But if I agree, you must work hard!"

"I'll do anythin'. I promise, I promise!" Joey recoiled a fraction.

Mr. Motou sighed and relaxed, "Fine, then we'll begin your instruction immediately my young friend, and believe me, " Mr. Motou cracked his knuckles, "Under my tutor-age, you _will_ learn! Now, can you name the most powerful Duel Monster?"

Joey's expression was blank, "Uh...no."

"Can you name the weakest?"

"Nooo..."

"You _do_ know what a trap card is, do you?"

"Kinda...I have no idea." Joey sighed in defeat.

"This is going on my blog, for sure now." I snickered.

"Hey!"

* * *

I had to admit it, Joey's training was coming along nicely. Even when had both Yugi and I duel him for practice. I do say that it wasn't _as_ easy to defeat him now as it was six weeks ago. Although, we do still kick his ass from one end of the duel to the other. Heh, it was so much fun. Screw therapy, I have an awesome outlet for my frustrations. And since he had only started his training not so long ago, he came along a hell of a lot faster than I ever had. It took me _years_ to get to where I was now.

We sat in Yugi's living room, watching the finals of the regional Duel Monsters' Tournament. Man, I wished I had joined it.

"-Put your cards together for Weevil Underwood, the bug brawler." A boy with a bad haircut and glasses appeared on the screen. "And his opponent, the number one ranked Rex Raptor, the dino duelist!" Another appeared and it showed that they were both on platforms, ready to duel.

"Bug boy versus Dinosaur breath? What kind of match is this? It should have been me in there!" Joey was ranting beside me.

"I know you've been training for weeks, but those guys are in another league. You're just not ready yet. " Téa smiled.

"Sure, rub it in." Joey crossed his arms and closed his eyes. I saw him start to nod off.

"And on top of that, you're so tired that you can't even keep your eyes open." I smiled impishly. What I would give for a loud noise maker right now, he he.

"I think Grandpa's lessons have been a little too tiring for him." Yugi commented, meeting my gaze with a friendly smile.

"You're tellin' me." I grinned.

"You see it's true what they say: You snooze, you lose!" Tristan teased and laughed at his best bud.

Joey hung his head, "Ugh, I must have been nuts thinking I could learn this crazy game."

"I wouldn't go as far as _insanity_. This crazy game's just too much for ya." I grinned. His expression made me laugh loudly, "Oh, you know I'm just kiddin'."

"Time for your lesson." Mr. Motou walked in behind us, carrying a medium sized package.

"Wha-? We're not done?" Joey exclaimed loudly, shaken from his fatigue.

"Not by a long shot, you slacker." Mr. Motou smiled, "Now quit your whining, Joseph. I know you've been working long and hard, but you really are coming along as a duelist. And I'm quite proud of you."

Joey's brown eyes filled with tears, "Gramps, thank you." he rushed to give him a hug, but, somehow, Mr. Motou was too fast for him and Joey hugged nothing but air, causing him to fall off the back of the couch.

"Oh, Yugi. I almost forgot." Mr. Motou said.

"Yo, Joey. Are you okay?" I turned around to see him on the floor.

"BOO!" Tristan shouted in my ear.

I yelped in surprise and fell right onto Joey. He grunted and exhaled sharply.

"I'm sorry, Joey." I murmured, still confused and shocked. I got to my feet with some effort and helped up my friend.

"Ah, no problem, 'Lisa."

"This package came for you." Mr. Motou added.

"What package?"

"I don't know, it just came in the mail." He handed it to him.

Yugi read the label, "It's from Industrial Illusions."

I ran around the couch and claimed my seat before it was gone. And Joey decided to jump over the back and back to his seat.

"Industrial Illusions? That's the company that makes the Duel Monsters' game. Why the heck would they be sending a package to you, Yugi?" Joey asked.

"I have no idea." Yugi replied honestly. "Is it possible that they've heard I beat the world champion?"

"You mean Kaiba?" Téa asked.

"Yeah, it wasn't an offical match or anything, but Kaiba did drop out of the tournament because of me."

I growled and crossed my arms, "If I didn't forget to register and Kaiba was still in it, I would have kicked his rich-punk butt."

"Just hearing Kaiba's name gives me a headache." Joey leaned his arm against the back of the couch.

"Ditto." I muttered.

"Whoa! Guy's, Raptor just stomped Weevil." Tristan sounded impressed.

"Yugi, these guys any good?" Joey asked Yugi.

"Oh yeah, they're both pretty tough customers. Weevil specializes in insect cards and is a great strategist."

"While Rex uses his monsters to overpower his opponents." I half smiled, kind of bored.

"Itsy-bitsy bugs against dueling dinosaurs. Raptor has got this one in the bag." Joey scoffed. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the back of the couch.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Yugi said.

I don't think I noticed that I nodded off during the rest of this duel. And _I_ accused Joey of not getting enough sleep.

"Man, King Rex squashed by an insect?"

I jerked fully awake. "Wha-? Never mind." I decided to pay more attention now.

"And now a very special honor, for our new champion. Here to present the Duel Monsters' championship trophy. The creator of Duel Monsters and the president of Industrial Illusions, ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mr. Maxamillion Pegasus!" The announcer called.

A door opened up from the ground and a man with long silver hair and a pretty boy red suit appeared. he had a nice gold trophy in his hands and he walked over to Weevil. Of course, I already knew that this was Pegasus, for my mom was employed by him back in California. I miss the sun :(

But he continued to talked about how there was gonna be a big Duel Monsters tournament. I got more and more excited as he explained it.

"Aww! I wanna go to that tournament!" I complained, "Seems like fun after the boring couple of months we've had around here."

"Ha! With all the excitement of the tournament, you forgot to open your package, Yugi." Mr. Motou laughed.

We all surrounded the medium sized box while Yugi opened it. "What could it be?"

I scanned the contents of the box, some type of fingerless glove sat in there, along with two stars and a video tape.

"Ah."

"Some kind of glove."

"And stars." Joey added.

"Maybe that video tape has some type of explanation." I suggested. Yugi took the VHS tape out of the box and stared at it.

"Pop it in and check it out." Joey said.

Yugi put it into the VCR, "Okay." (**OMG! This was before DVD's Back in the stone age!)**

The static cleared to show the man that was on the television only moments before, Maxamillion Pegasus.

"Greetings little Yugi, I am Maxamillion Pegasus."

"Wha-!" I gasped.

"Pegasus?"

"We just saw him on TV." Téa said.

"Shh.." I waved at her to keep quiet.

"The famous Maxamillion Pegasus sends greetings to my Yugi?" Mr. Motou inquired.

"I have heard some terribly interesting things about you, Yugi." Pegasus smiled, "Your impressive defeat of Seto Kaiba intrigued me so much, I've decided to investigate your amazing dueling skills personally. Right here, right now. We shall hold a special duel, we will play with a strict time limit of 15 minutes. And when times up, the player with the highest life points will be the winner." Pegasus paused, "Are you ready, Yugi?"

Joey's eyes widened, "He can't really expect you to fight a duel against a video tape!" He exclaimed.

"That's crazy!" Tristan frowned.

Pegasus chuckled, "No. It's magic." Something glowed from behind his hair and my surroundings became cold and dark. I almost couldn't move, but my Millennium Medallion protected me from being frozen. I opened my eyes.

"Everything has gone dark and cold, and the others...Elisa?" Yugi's expression was perplexed.

"What's going on, Yugi?" I hoped that he would know.

"No!" Yugi whipped his gaze back to the recording of Pegasus, "What have you done to my friends? Where have you taken us?" he demanded.

"We are no longer in the world you know, but I will return you, after our game." Pegasus was cool and calm, unaffected by Yugi's outburst.

"How?" I murmured, mostly to myself.

"Then it's time to duel!" Yugi's Millennium Puzzle glowed brightly, making me squint. When the light cleared, a more confident Yugi was in his place. It was an odd feeling, the same thing happens to me when the Medallion activates. I feel more, sure and confident. I wonder why...

Yugi smirked, "Start the clock and make your move, Pegasus."

The screen on the TV panned and widened to Pegasus sitting at a Duel Monsters' field. "Then let's begin."

The clock appeared at the bottom of the screen, and started to count down. I scowled at those numbers; what was Pegasus planning? And how could Yugi get his life points down enough before this duel ends?

"Nervous, Yugi-boy? You should be, you _never_ had faced a duelist like me before." Pegasus's gaze cut through me, "As should you, Miss Elisa." He laid a card face down.

"How'd you...!" I blinked in surprise.

"I know _everything_ that happens here." Pegasus answered simply.

I fell silent, not sure what to say now.

"You may be good." Yugi started his turn.

"I assure you, I am."

"But I will beat you to save my friends." Yugi held up a card.

"You won't save anyone with that dragon card." Pegasus sighed.

"How?" Yugi became speechless.

"What? Pegasus can see the cards in your hand?" My eyes widened.

"I told you that you've never dueled anyone like me before," Pegasus pointed out, "I know every move you make, _before_ you make it."

Yugi and I both scowled at the silver-haired man. What a cheat! This isn't a fair duel at all! Of course, the concept of a _ fair_ duel was thrown out the window then all of this freaky magic appeared.

"Knowing your every move you make gives me a distinct advantage. Don't you think?" Pegasus's smile was polite.

"So, you're just a cheater then?" I demanded.

"Ohoho! Far from it, my girl. But for example, I can anticipate your next play and counter it with this Dragon Capture Jar." The card Pegasus held glowed, "It will draw the Komori Dragon from your card, and imprison the beast." The dragon appeared and then disappeared into the trap card. "Trapped, never to be played against me."

'This is crazy!' I thought, "You're crazy, Pegasus!" I growled. "Now start talking: where _are_ we?"

Pegasus laughed, "My, my, girl. You never cease to amaze me with your outbursts. This dark dimension we're in is known as the Shadow Realm. A mystical place where incredible monsters can be summoned and the impossible, is quite possible."

"But what you're saying _can't_ be true." I said. Magic? Really? I don't believe it for one second.

"Tell me, do you believe there is magic in these cards?"

"Don't _you_ know? You're the one who invented the game." Yugi said, looking closely at a card from his hand.

"What if I told you, I didn't." Pegasus countered.

"Huh?" Yugi gasped.

"In ancient times, the Egyptians called this the Shadow Games. Powerful Pharaohs would hold mystical duels in other dimensions. Just as we are doing right now. But not with cards, they dueled with _real_ monsters and _real_ magic. Magical forces so powerful, the Egyptians lost control of them and nearly destroyed the entire world." Pegasus had a smirk on his features as he explained the origins to us.

"It's a good story, Pegasus, but these monster's _can't_ be real!" I shouted, smoke rose from Pegasus's cards and formed into a monster.

"Tell that to my Dragon Piper. As it's flute of resurrection brings back your dragon, but puts him under _my_ control." the Kormori Dragon roared as it reformed on Pegasus's side of the dueling field.

"I have to counter attack! Silver Fang!" A yellow light formed into a wolf monster. And the Dragon attacked, destroying the wolf.

Yugi-1500

Pegasus-2000

"Urgh." I growled.

"Ha! As you see Yugi, these monsters are very real, and also quite dangerous." Pegasus laughed. "Ah, Yugi-boy, you really are quite entertaining. The way you scowl and sneer. So defiant and yet so helpless. And completely ignorant of the power of your Millennium Puzzle."

"What?"

"5000 years ago, the Powerful Pharaoh locked the magic of the Shadow games away." Pegasus continued.

"What's this have to do with me?" Yugi's violet eyes narrowed.

"The Pharaoh captured these vast magical energies in eight mystical Millennium items."

"Eight items? And you're saying, my puzzle is one of them?" Yugi arched an eyebrow.

"You _and_ Miss Elisa both have one. So yes, there are magical energies locked within them. Magic that could change both of your lives forever, if you only knew how to unleash it." Pegasus smiled again.

"But _why_ are you telling us this?" My bright blue eyes narrowed at Pegasus.

"_Why_? Simply because I needed you to know." Pegasus said, innocently. "Perhaps I've said to much, and since the clock is still ticking, I propose that we still play our little duel."

'What is this nut tryin' to say? He knows something, but he won't tell us.' I thought.

Pegasus lifted the hair that was covering his left eye, revealing what looked like the symbol on both Yugi's and my Millennium Item.

'That's it! That eye where a normal human eye would be, it must be what's readin' Yugi's mind and his cards.'

"Hurry up now, Yugi. Time is running out." Pegasus turned up the pressure, "For you and your friends."

I watched as Yugi placed a card from his deck and straight onto the field, _without_ looking at it.

'What? What the hell is Yugi doing? he didn't even _look_ at that card!'

"I already know you plan to play the Zombie Warrior, and I'm already prepared to counter it with a trap card that even makes Zombie's lay down and play dead." Pegasus smirked.

Yugi mirrored with his own smirk, "Not this time, I figured out your little game, Pegasus. You may be able to see the cards in my hand, but you _can't_ see the cards I pull form the deck. My next card is..." he flip summoned his monster, "The Dark Magician!"

Fear flickered from within Pegasus's amber eyes and he scoffed sarcastically, "Ooh, the big, scary, Dark Magician." He mocked.

"Mock me all you want, but my Magician will destroy that dragon!"

"Go ahead if you think that'll help." Pegasus said.

"It'll do _more_ than help, Pegasus. It will bring you closer to defeat, and bring me closer to saving my friends." Yugi smiled.

Pegasus closed his eyes for a brief moment, "If it can do all that, then by all means play it."

"Dark Magician!" The sorcerer came out of the card, "Dark magic Attack!" He thrust his staff and launched a magic attack and destroyed the dragon, bringing his life points to 1200. But the confusing part was that Pegasus started to _laugh_.

"Hahaha! Nicely played. But by playing your Dark Magician, you've let me manipulate you even more. By playing that one card, you have ensured my victory."

"No." Was Yugi's reply.

"We shall see, Yugi." Pegasus looked at his hand, "Oh, a very rare card. This is the fearsome Faceless Mage."

'I don't think I have ever seen this card. And I work for Yugi's Grandpa.'

"I've never seen _that_ card before." Yugi's eyes narrowed, "But my Dark magician is one of the strongest magic cards in the game."

"But how will he fare once I combine my faceless Mage with the equally rare, Eye of Illusion?" The Mage appeared out of the card.

"Dark Magician! Dark Magic Attack!" Dark Magician responded to Yugi's order by attacking, but, nothing happened. "Dark Magician!" The smoke cleared to show _both_ monsters.

"That attack should have worked!" I gasped.

"His Faceless mage should have been destroyed. But, it's still standing, and I'm running out of time." the clock was just past the five minute mark now.

'What happens when someone loses?' I thought, I couldn't shake the feeling that something really bad happened when one lost a shadow game.

Yugi drew his next card, "I attack your combo with the Celtic Guardian! This mighty warrior will cut your Faceless Mage in half." The Warrior appeared on the field.

"True, your Guardian is mighty, but you once again underestimated the power of my Eye of Illusion." Pegasus reminded him.

"No!" Yugi's teeth clenched.

"Dark Magic Attack!"

"Wha-? That came out of nowhere!" I exclaimed as the Celtic Guardian was destroyed.

Yugi-400

Pegasus-1200

"But that's impossible! The Faceless mage doesn't have a Dark Magic Attack!" Yugi retorted.

I blinked, 'It was Yugi's _own_ Dark Magician that attacked him.' I growled, "This isn't good at all!"

"Well, Yugi. Our Time limit is almost up, and as I have more life points than you, it seems I am the victor." Pegasus clapped at his own victory.

"Time's not up just yet, Pegasus! And you left your Mage open to a physical assault!" Yugi held up his Summoned Skull Card.

'Hurry, Yugi! Call on your monster!' I was frantic now.

"Summoned Skull! Attack!" But, there wasn't enough time to do so, so it just stopped just short.

"Well, we've run out of time. But how close was that, if you had been able to complete your attack, I would have lost. But I didn't, did I? I have taken the measure of your talents this day, Yugi Motou. And when we next duel, we shall duel for higher stakes."

"I'm done playing your games." Yugi sneered.

"Don't expect me to participate either, Pegasus!" My eyes narrowed.

"You presume that I'm giving you a choice in the Matter, but I'm not. For I too possess one of the eight Millennium Items. The all powerful Millennium Eye!" he moved his hair to show off the golden eye.

"Millennium Eye?" Yugi and I said at once.

"That's right, you two. And now I show you the true extent of it's magic." It flashed and the beam of light soared over our heads and connected with Yugi's Grandpa, "You see, I have found that, given the proper incentive, anyone can be made to play my game." Something flashed into the television, and Mr. Motou appeared onto the screen.

I felt instantly back to my normal, somewhat shy and impish self as shock crossed my mind.

"Grandpa!" Yugi exclaimed, he gripped the television.

"Yes, we will duel again, Yugi. And you need to watch out also, Elisa. For I will be monitoring your moves as well..." Pegasus laughed and his voice died away.

"Grandpa! Grandpa!" Yugi shouted, he kept crying out until tears ran down his face. I hugged him.

"Don't worry, Yugi. We'll get your Grandfather back." I said.

"We couldn't move. All we could do was sit there and watch. I'm so sorry, Yuge." Joey apologized.

I let go of Yugi and smiled warmly in encouragement, "Don't worry, he'll be back. But, for now, we need to get your gramps to a hospital." My cell phone started to ring, making all of us jump. "I'll be back." I sighed. I ran to my bag and fished my phone out in time to see it was mom calling. "hey, mom?"

"Why, we hear each other again, Miss Elisa. What a shame, I _was_ hoping to see you, but when we arrived at your house, only your mother was home. So, until we see each other again, she'll be in my care until the end of Duelist Kingdom. I can't wait to see you and Yugi-boy." the line went dead. I stood there, frozen. My phone slipped out of my hand and fell to the floor. The others stared at me.

Joey ran to my one side, "Elisa, what happened?"

"'Lisa?" Tristan came to my other side.

I gulped and felt hot tears sting my eyes, "My mom. Pegasus. Captured." I could only get out small coherent phrases and words.

"No!" Téa gasped, her one hand covered her mouth.

"Why is Pegasus doing this?" Yugi asked sadly.

I crumpled into the nearest set of arms and started to cry. Okay, I was never one to cry, to show that kind of emotion whatsoever. But this was my _mom_. The only one I had left, and Pegasus took her from me. I didn't realize who's arms I fell into, until Joey rubbed my back comfortingly.

"We'll get 'dem all back! Just wait!" Joey's voice burned with determination.

'I sure hope you're right.'

* * *

Please review, I'd like some type of improvement on this story, if it isn't good enough.


	3. The Journey To Duelist Kingdom

Hey, after this chapter, it should be a hell of a whole lot easier to update, for chapters 4 and up are actually on my computer and done. So, yeah, enjoy the story. And Thank you for the reviews that I've gotten from writing this story. Five so far, and I'm hopin to get more. So R&R. Okay, also I'm thinking I need to work with my character a bit. I've been trying to develop her off the computer for sometime now. But, I guess, She needs work. I'm trying to make her interesting, but not make her a Mary-Sue either. GOD NO! Can't stand those stories, no offense. But, I still love her personality. So, I'll keep that. But, here's the thing: Give me a good time when you think Joey and Elisa should get together. It could be next chapter, end of the season, middle of the season, or not even til the end of all of my fics (Please no.) But, you guy's honest opinions really mean a lot to me. That's why I write. But, all I ask for, is not to completely bash my characters. Thank you. ^-^

Joey: Stop blathering and get on with the chapter.

Me: I'll go whenever I'm good and ready, Wheeler.

Joey: xXPeaceBabesXx doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Me: What was that? -_-"

Joey: You forgot the disclaimer last chapter, I'm just making up for it.

Me: Thanks! Hope you guys love it.

* * *

I walked up the steps to my house, to see an envelope sticking out from the crack between the door and the wall. I set my bag down and grabbed the paper, "Who's this from?" I opened it and saw the five cards, "Hmph, knowing how he is, I would bet my own soul that it was Pegasus." I took a card out and glared at it, "I was right, it's an invitation to The Duelist Kingdom." I glared at all five cards and stormed inside, slamming the door behind me, I didn't particularly want to be here, and only because I found my mother unconscious on the couch when I came home a couple days ago. And that emotional breakdown I had at Yugi's place…I shook my head; I felt so messed up. But, I promised Yugi that I'd go with him and rescue his grandpa, along with my mom.

"I promise." I whispered.

* * *

"God! I'm late, again!" I growled, at this point I was running to my first class, barely making it in time. "My alarm clock hates me, I know it!" I ran into the classroom and saw the others gathered around Yugi's desk, "Guys, I'm sorry. My alarm clock didn't go off, and tonight it dies."

Yugi smiled and gazed at me, full of apologies, "It's okay, we were just talking about the tournament."

"Yeah, I got the official tournament invitation, yesterday." I replied.

"The boat is leaving in two days." Yugi picked up the card with a ship on it.

"I'm going too." I murmured, 'no matter how dangerous it is.'

"But you _can't _go! It could be dangerous!" Tea blinked and exclaimed.

"I have to. It's the only clue I've got to rescue my Grandpa and Elisa's mom." Yugi frowned at the brown haired girl.

"I still can't believe it. Pegasus uses some kind of weird spell to nab your grandpa's soul and," Tristan's gaze met mine, "Your mom's too. And now he's toying with you. Forcing you to duel in his Tournament."

Joey's eyebrows pulled together, "And without invitations, we can't even go there with you. I wish we could help ya guys."

"This is bad." Tea murmured.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her, "I know." I whispered and stared at the cards.

"Hey, Yugi!" Tristan picked up a couple of the cards, "Check this out, according to this card, the tournament winner takes the grand prize of three million dollars."

'That's a lot of money.' I thought. 'If I wasn't going to rescue my mother, I'd totally go after it.'

"Three mil?" I heard Joey whisper.

"So what Tristan? Who cares about money at a time like this?" Yugi said.

"Hey, gimmie that!" Joey grabbed the card from his friend, "Hah, three million."

"I would bet three million, that Joey does." A smiled appeared on my face, it felt awkward, but I finally relaxed.

Joey grinned, "Three million, in cold hard cash."

* * *

Yugi POV

I walked to the roof and the first thing I saw, was Joey sitting near the far wall. "Joey? What are you doing up here?"

He turned his head, "hmm?"

"What's with you?" I asked, Joey seemed kind of...distant. Which was unlike him. The same with Elisa, ever since what happened with Pegasus, she hasn't really smiled.

"Ah nothin'. I'm just thinking about a whole lot of stuff. Yugi, you do know I care about your gramps right? I mean he taught me about the heart of the cards!" Joey smiled.

"Of course I know."

"I mean it! One way or another, I'll help you beat Pegasus!" He insisted.

I nodded and sat down next to him, "That means a lot to me, Joey. I'm glad we're friends."

"Remember when we first met?" Joey asked.

"I'll never forget it." I looked down at my Puzzle, "It was all because of the Millennium Puzzle. The way Grandpa explained it to me, the puzzle was originally found in some ancient ruins. My Grandpa then, dared me to solve it. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen, as soon as I touched it, I _knew_ it was special. I made a wish on the puzzle, I asked it to give me a real friend. And i think the puzzle came through for me. That was when I met up with you and Tristan," I chuckled, "Although, you sure didn't _act_ like my friends at first." I smiled as I remembered.

"Hah, you mean when we were playing 'keep away' with the Millennium Puzzle?" Joey's eyes softened, "It was for _you_, man. We just wanted to toughen you up for the _real_ bullies, we were only teasing."

"_Teasing_? You took a piece of the Millennium Puzzle and threw it out the window! And _I_ was the one who tried to help you guys when you were picked on by that bully!"

~Flashback~ Third Person POV

"What do we do?" Tristan murmured, both he and Joey were on the ground while a bully towered over them.

"Shh..." Joey warned him.

"Well, look who just showed up! It's little Yugi, just in time to watch me wipe the floor with these guys!" The bully smirked.

Yugi rushed out to stand in front of Joey and Tristan, "Get back! Leave them alone!" He shouted.

"Who's gonna stop me? A little shrimp like you? I don't think so. Get lost!"

"I won't let you, these guys are my friends!"

The bully started to laugh, "Okay tough guy. You've jumped to the front of the line!" And with that, he started to beat Yugi up. Causing him to cringe and flinch in pain.

_'You stood up for us, Yugi. I'll never forget that. Because of you, we got that moron expelled. And Tristan and I learned what it was like to have a true friend.'_

_'Well, at least you retrieved the lost puzzle piece. If you hadn't done that. I never would have solved the Millennium Puzzle.'_

* * *

"I wanna apologize, Yugi. I've been acting like a real jerk." Joey smiled.

"Oh, were you _acting_?" Yugi grinned.

Joey laughed, "I guess I deserve that one. If ya ask me, I think Tristan and I underestimated you. You know Yugi, you're a tougher kid than I ever gave you credit for. Maybe we should hang out more often. What do ya say?"

Yugi nodded.

* * *

Yugi POV

"Truth is, you're the best friend I've ever had." Joey said truthfully.

"Yeah." I looked down, "It's too bad that you can't come with Elisa and I to rescue them."

"Don't worry. Somehow, someway, I promise we'll do it together."

I grinned, "Together?"

Joey chuckled, "Heh, you bet. We're a team, Yugi."

I blinked in realization, "But how can you go without an invitation?"

"Hmm..."

* * *

Elisa POV

I sat on the steps leading up to my house, watching the sun go down in the horizon. "I guess I should go and get something to eat." I sighed. I got to my feet and grabbed my school bag.

"Elisa?"

I turned to Joey jog his way to me, "Oh, hey Joey." I smiled a little.

He finally caught up to me, "Hey, are ya okay?"

"I'm fine, I guess. I was just gonna get something to eat, wanna come?"

Joey smiled, "Sure, we could spend some quality time together."

I laughed, "Yeah, and maybe I can kick your butt in a match of Duel Monsters' too."

Joey carelessly threw his one arm around my shoulder, "Yeah, but you know I've gotten better. So you won't beat me just as easily."

Heat rose to my cheeks, "You sure about that?"

He gazed down at me, his smile warm, "Oh, I dunno."

* * *

I sat across from Joey in the fast food restaurant. He was trying his best to make me laugh by freaking out about the tournament.

"Joey, if ya don't calm down, you'll pop a blood vessel." I grinned and took a sip from my soda.

"But 'Lisa! I'm tryin' to help ya out here!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air.

"And how is that exactly?" I raised an eyebrow.

"By givin' ya the support that you need!" A faint rose colored blush appeared onto his features.

"Well, thank you, Joey." I smiled softly and abstinently played with the straw. I sighed and looked outside.

"Are you okay?" Joey asked for the second time this evening.

"Well, I don't know how I'm gonna win. Yugi, heh, I could see win. But my mom is the only family I have left, and I _need_ to save her. So, I need to win." I frowned.

"Elisa, your mom ain't the only family you have. You have all of us. Me, Yugi, Tristan. We're your family too. So, don't worry. In fact, I promised Yugi, that I'd help you and him in the tournament." Joey replied.

I looked back and smiled. It was quiet for a short moment while we gazed at each other. Heat flooded my cheeks and I glanced away in chagrin. 'What's going on? Why am I acting like this around _my friend_, Joey. That's all we are, right? I don't know.'

~~Next Night

Yugi and I were at Domino Pier, getting ready to board the ship to Duelist Kingdom. But, I was still trying to figure out why I've been feeling the way I have. Besides, even if I did _like_ Joey, I wouldn't date him. What if we broke up, then that would be putting a strain on our friendship.

_You have all of us. We're your family too._

"Hey, Elisa?" Yugi caught my attention.

"Yeah, Yugi?" I blinked and looked down at my friend.

"Something's up between you and Joey. Do you care to tell me what that is?" Yugi grinned.

I flushed in embarrassment, "Nothing!" _I think_.

Yugi just chuckled and shook his head.

"Attention all Duelists', welcome to this even sponsored by Industrial Illusions. You received with you, the invitation and star chips that will grant you entry into the contest. You are all elite, and invited by us after close observations of your past Duel Monster contests. You each have a fair chance to win. It all comes down to how well you've chosen your cards and how well you play. Now then duelists, cross the ocean, and enter the Duelist Kingdom!" The man with tall hair called out over the crowd.

"It looks like that man has hair with a mind of it's own." I chuckled and whispered to Yugi.

"Like mine?"

I laughed, "No, your hair is reasonable. That guy's has just one part just sticking straight up. I doubt it grows that way."

"Let's get in line." Yugi suggested.

"Right." I nodded and followed him to the end of the line, surprisingly it was moving quickly for how many people were around.

"Hey you! Get outta here! Only official contestants are allowed on board!"

"How do you know I'm not official?" I heard a familiar voice, we looked out of the line to see...Joey!

"Joey?" _What's he doing here?_

"Because the official contestants are not trying to sneak on board through the lower hatches." The one guard retorted. They were dragging him away, Yugi and I exchanged glances before running to them.

"Stop your struggling, we're gonna have to throw you out!"

Joey scowled, "No way! I came here to duel, and I'm gonna duel!"

"Leave him alone!" Yugi demanded.

"If this is how you treat people you don't know, I'd hate to see how you treat your friends." I crossed my arms.

"Hey Yugi, Elisa." Joey grinned.

"Joey." I said.

"What are you doing here, Joey?" Yugi asked.

"Did ya really think I was gonna let you guys do this on your own. Come on, help me out." Joey smiled.

"He's with us, you _gotta_ let him on." Yugi insisted.

"Only people with a star-chip can get on board. There are no exceptions."

Yugi and I nodded at each other.

"But Joey _has_ a star-chip, didn't he tell you?" I smirked.

"I do?" Joey blinked in confusion.

"See." Yugi held out his hand and placed something in Joey's. It was one of his own star-chips. Of course, I wished I was the one to do that, so Yugi wouldn't be at such a disadvantage.

"What's this?"

"According to this card, a star-chip's proof that one's a duelist." I fished the one card out of my pocket. And by doing that, I almost dropped my deck. Man, that would have been a disaster.

"That may be, but all participants are given _two_ star chips, you'll be at a disadvantage."

"Maybe. But I'd rather take that risk than be without my friend. I need him." And the look that Yugi shared with me for a brief moment almost said _And She does too._ I flushed again and glanced away in chagrin.

'Thanks Yugi, I think.' I thought.

"Yugi." Joey murmured in surprise.

The guards turned to each other, "What do we do?"

The other guard pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number, "Mr. Pegasus, we've got a problem, sir."

* * *

"I'm glad they let you on, Joey." I stood next to him. I was still unsure about how my feelings for Joey were changing. 'No! I can't like him. I refuse to. He's my _friend_!' I shook my head slightly.

Joey glanced at me, "Only because Yugi sacrificed one of his star-chips for me. But if any of the other duelists find out we only have one star-chip each, they could really take advantage of us."

"Then keep quiet about it." Yugi grinned.

"Yeah, I'm sure they've missed it back home." I smirked.

"Kinda exciting, isn't it guys?" Joey asked, he rested his arms on the railings.

"It is." I said. I gazed out over the dark ocean and not meeting Joey's gaze, which, by the way, I could feel on me. I felt myself flush. Dammit, even if I did like Wheeler, I wasn't doing a good show in hidin' it.

"Yeah." Yugi agreed.

"Well, what do we have here?" A smooth female voice said from behind. I turned and my eyes widened before narrowing.

'Oh, great.'

"Wow!" Joey's brown eyes widened.

"Keep your eyes in your head, Wheeler." I growled.

"So, you're the Yugi kid everybody's talking about." The woman smiled.

"Whoo-ho! Check it out!" Joey exclaimed

So this is what jealously felt like. Have to say, I don't like it. And I don't like _her_.

"But I'm amazed that a squirt like you, could beat Kaiba." She continued, "You're famous, ya know."

Yugi wasn't sure on what to say. "Thanks very much, I think."

"Hey miss, I'm a really good friend of the master duelist, in fact-" Joey was interrupted.

"Look, you're either a champ or a chump. Cut these two loose. the one's fashion challenged and deserves to be crushed in the game." She turned and walked away.

'She's so arrogant!' My eyes twitched.

"Please, crush me!" Both the guys had stricken looks on their faces.

"I'll crush you all eventually, the name's Mai." She left.

"Argh, let's go inside now. I think I've had too much ocean air." I grabbed Joey and Yugi's hands and stalked inside the ship. They were still stunned and sudden movement didn't help.

"Hey, what's the rush, 'Lisa?" joey was finally starting to act like himself again.

I let go of them and shrugged, "Nothin'. It was getting a little too windy out there. Plus, we need to find a place to get some sleep for tomorrow."

"Oh, right. C'mon guys." Joey walked off and we followed.

"Hey, is this a joke or what?" Joey demanded when he saw the sleeping area.

'Here we go again.' I sweat-dropped.

"This is a luxury cruiser. I know you got better rooms somewhere." he continued.

"You again?" Guards grabbed Joey and he yelped in surprise. "We cut you a break and you cause more trouble?"

"You wanna get thrown outta here?"

"Yugi, if anyone's still counting, that's the second or third time he's been grabbed in one day." I smiled at Yugi.

"Hey, aren't you that Yugi kid?" A boy asked.

We turned, "Yeah, and you are..."

"Weevil! And Rex the Dino duelist." Joey grinned.

"Heh, you're wasting your time with those two. The private rooms only go to those who placed in the last tournament, like us." Rex smirked.

All three of us walked over to them. "Yeah, we heard." I smiled. I saw both Rex and Weevil blush in surprise, which was answered by an irritated grunt for Joey. 'Heh, yes!'

"Congrats on winning the regionals, Weevil." Yugi said.

"It was nothing."

"Yeah, but I went easy on him." Rex smirked.

"Yeah, but Yugi, Elisa, and I are gonna take the tournament, right guys?" Joey grinned.

"To tell you the truth, wining that tournament didn't feel like that much of an achievement. I guess I can't call myself a champion unless I beat the duelist that defeated Kaiba. But I'm sure I'll end up battling you in the tournament, Yugi. Frankly, I look forward to it." Weevil smirked.

Yugi smiled, oblivious, "I look forward to it too."

"I'm looking forward to some dino demolition." Rex smiled at me.

'Oh crap.' I blinked and backed up until I was sure that Joey was right behind me.

"Let me tell you a secret. It's something that none of the other players know about the game yet." Weevil whispered.

"Oh, isn't that cheating?"

"The other duelists will find out soon enough. But there are new rule on the island that require more strategy." Weevil explained.

"Rules are for wimps. In dueling you either smash your opponent, or get smashed yourself." Rex grumbled, "It's one or the other."

"Strength is good, but you also need to combine your cards with other types of cards." Joey added.

"Who asked you? Stay outta my way, or I'll stomp you. Like everyone else." Rex turned and walked away.

"We'll see who stomps who, when we get to the island." Joey growled.

"Don't let him get to you." I whispered.

"Ignore him, let's go scope out the competition."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Check out those chumps, they're already trading over there. Players here are swapping cards and strengthening their decks, getting ready for the tournament. it's also a great way to get a feel for someone else's cards." Weevil said.

"I guess." I crossed my arms, "Joey,-?" I turned to see that he disappeared.

"Whoa, strong card. hey, wanna trade?" How about you? Anybody? Help me out here!" Joey was really enthusiastic.

"I guess Joey's trading." Yugi said.

"That boy!" I laughed.

"If you've come all this way and you're still trying to improve your deck, you've got to be pretty desperate." Weevil turned, "Catch you on the flip side!" He walked away.

"Yea! Thank you for trading." Joey jumped around some more.

"Yugi, I'll meet you back onto the balcony once he's done. I have to...do something." I said.

"Sure, see ya in a few minutes." Yugi smiled and walked back out of the room.

"Yo, Wheeler!" I called, I grabbed my deck out of my pocket and pulled a card out.

"What's up, Elisa?" Joey bounced over.

"Here, you might need this card." I handed it to him.

"Baby Dragon?"

"Yeah, I want you to have it. It's a good card, but I don't want anything in return." I blushed slightly. "Besides, there are some good combos out there that you could use with that card."

Joey caught me off guard by hugging me. "Hey, thanks!"

I smiled, 'Great, I like him. Now what do I do?'

* * *

"Yugi! I got some good card trading in." Joey showed his friend all the cards that he got.

"Hey! let me see them! Salamandra, a Kunai with Chain, Baby Dragon, and Shield and Sword! Great! With these new magic cards combined with your monsters, you'll have a really strong deck!" Yugi said.

"All right! So now, I'm ready to win every duel I play!" Joey grinned.

"I think it's a whole lot more complicated than that." I shook my head.

Yugi opened his box, "Here." he took a card out and gave it to Joey, "Add this to your deck. It can be helpful in a tight spot."

Joey took it, "Thanks, I can't get over how much you guys are always helping me out."

"Ah, we meet again, Yugi,"

"Weevil!"

* * *

Weevil was standing against the railing, "Ah, the evening winds feel so nice." he turned around, "So, did you trade for any good cards, Yugi?"

"Naw, I'm gonna duel with the cards I brought with me." Yugi replied.

"I thought as much."

I turned to Joey slightly, "Something doesn't feel right." I whispered.

"I know, I feel it too." Suspicion was evident in his eyes.

"You used the Exodia cards in your duel with Kaiba, right? Those are the strongest cards."

Yugi smiled, "And really rare, too."

"Could I? Possibly? See those legendary cards?"

"I don't see why not, just be careful with them." Yugi took out the five Exodia cards and _handed_ them to Weevil.

I shifted my weight nervously, "I really don't trust him."

"Yuge shouldn't do that."

"So these are the cards to summon Exodia. For a long time I've been trying to come up with some type of strategy to finally beat these cards. But I couldn't come up with anything. Until just this moment." Weevil turned away and walked to the railing, "Say goodbye to Exodia!" Weevil shouted as he threw the cards off board.

"No!" Yugi cried, the cards fell into the night darkened ocean.

"Now there's no one who can challenge me!" Weevil cackled as he walked away.

"Grr..." I growled.

"Why you!" Joey flared up.

"My cards, those are the Exodia cards my Grandpa gave me!" Yugi shouted.

Joey grabbed the railing, "I got 'em!" He threw himself over the edge.

"Joey! No!" I cried. I watched him disappear under the waves.

"Joey, where are you?"

I scanned the ocean waters until I saw blonde hair bob above the waves, "There he is, Yugi!" I pointed him out.

"Joey, they're not worth drowning over!"

"Don't worry, Yugi!" I heard his faint call.

"How are we gonna get him back up?" I asked worriedly, "Joey! Swim back to the ship!" I saw how he was struggling against the waves, "Yugi, how well can you swim?"

"I can, you?"

"I used to be on the swim team, back in Sacramento. I wasn't the best, but at least I'm a strong swimmer." I took off my jacket. A wave drug Joey under, "Yugi! Now!" We both dove into the cold water. It felt like a million needles were stabbing me endlessly. Yugi and I swam over to him.

"Joey, hold on!" Yugi shouted.

"Keep fighting the current!" I demanded.

"Just three more." Joey panted before he sank. Yugi and I dove down to bring him back up. he had no fight in him left.

"We need to get back on board." I panted; Joey was heavy! Man, what did this kid eat?

"Yugi! Elisa!" Tea's voice called.

"Are you guys okay?" Tristan chimed in, a ladder was sent down.

"Grab a hold!"

"Tea!" I smiled wearily.

"Tristan!" Yugi grinned.

* * *

"That was close! I'm sure glad you two showed up." Yugi said.

I had a hold onto Joey, until he had enough strength. "Yeah, without you guys, we would have been shark bait."

"We're a team. We all stick together." Tea said.

"We'll always watch your back." Tristan replied.

Yugi and I smiled at each other before looking at out friends, "Thanks a lot you guys!"

"I'm sorry, Yugi." Joey said suddenly.

"Huh?" Yugi turned to his friend.

"I failed, I only got two of your cards." Joey held up the two remaining Exodia cards.

"it's okay, Joey."

"it's not okay." Joey disagreed. "It's always this way with me. I'm never been able to help anybody. Not even my own sister, Serenity." He closed his eyes.

"Really? You have a sister?" I asked.

"Our parents divorced years ago, when we were kids. She lives far away now, with my mother. my sister's had really bad eyes ever since she was born." He looked up, "Eventually, she'll go blind!"

"I'm sorry."

I hated seeing him like this, "Joey." I whispered.

"Thank's Yuge. She sent me a message." And he proceeded to tell us what his sister said to him, "The doctors told her the time has come. Soon her eyes will become impossible to repair, even _with_ surgery. But there are specialists who could preform the operation now before it's too late. They could save her eyesight. But, there's no way i could pay for the operation. I have to win, for her! Winning in the Duelist Kingdom, and getting the prize money." Tears filled his eyes, "Is the only way I could help Serenity!"

I hugged him, "I promise you Joey, we'll all be there for you."

* * *

The sun lifted over the horizon, "We'll all do our best, Joey. You for your sister, Elisa for her mother, and me for my grandpa." Yugi said.

I stood there quietly, waiting for the challenges to begin.

"That's right. We'll all do it together." Tea said.

"Look, the island!" Tristan pointed.

"That's the Duelist Kingdom. That's it, we're almost there!"

* * *

Well, this was a fun chapter. Actually my favorite so far. Don't forget to vote on my profile page. Please review. Thanks! ^-^


	4. Into The Hornet's Nest Pt 1

Well. I do have to say that I'm glad that I had updated. And now that school is almost out, I'll probably be able to update every couple days or so. But I need help, does anyone know of any script websites? For season two and on, i mean. But anyway, hope you enjoy. Read and review!

Disclaimer: I will never own Yu-Gi-Oh. Sigh.

Hope you like Elisa's first duel, too. I am so glad that I have access to online deck builders.

* * *

"Man! This duelist kingdom looks like a pretty big place Yugi, finding your grandpa is not going to be easy. And I do think the same applies to finding your ma, 'Lisa." Joey looked over the giant island. And I couldn't help but agree, this place was gigantic!

"Well, we have to start somewhere" Yugi replied, good thing _he_ was optomistic.

"Sure, but the question is: Where would we start?" I frowned and crossed my arms. Really, this place had to be the same size as Downtown Domino, and that place was big. The ship slowed and steered to a dock, not too far from the giant castle that stood in the middle of the island. When the Boat docked, was when we saw about twenty guys in black suits scouting the area and making sure no one was causing trouble.

"Whoa! Check out the suits!" Joey commented.

"If you had a hard time sneaking around two or three guards getting _on_ the ship, imagine if you had to sneak _off_ the ship." I chuckled at Joey, who just smiled sheepishly at me.

"Attention all duelist please disembark in an orderly fashion!" The loudspeaker sounded, signaling the time where we should get off.

"Hey Tea, what if one of those security guys finds out that we're stowaways, we oughtta play it safe and swim back" Tristan seemed ready to chicken out.

"We're in the middle of nowhere lame brain! So if you can try to act normal we'll be ok" Tea fumed at the brunette.

"Hey, by all means, feel free to swim back a couple hundred miles through shark infested waters and the possible storm every time and again." I said in an off-hand tone, enough to make Tristan blink and grumble to himself.

"Nice, 'Lisa. I can't believe you got Tristan speechless like that." Joey grinned and walked next to me as we exited the boat. Everyone else was walking with no problem, but Tristan, who decided to walk like a dork down the platform, was extremely nervous.

"Hey you!" One guard called out to him.

"Me?" Tristan stopped in his tracks and looked on worridly.

"Relax, you're our guest here." The guard smiled an easy smile, which made Tristan relax a little.

"Yeah, I am" Tristan smiled and rushed to where we were standing.

"Way to play it cool" I shook my head.

"We all made it here safe and sound" Joey said, but then he got that look on his face that said, 'I'm gonna sneeze, so move!' I delicately moved from the range of fire and he sneezed, accidentally, on Tea.

"EW!" Tea shouted.

"You would've never caught that cold if it wasn't for Weevil" Yugi frowned.

"Well, Weevil might have been the cause of Joey's recent cold capture, but if he had gone inside like I told him to, the cold could have been easily prevented." I frowned at the blonde, but he just smiled at me, which made my frown effect falter. 'No fair, Joey!'

"Speaking of our wormy friend, looks he just slithered off the boat and he's already looking to start some trouble, that slimeball, I'd love to wipe that smirk off his face" Joey said. I looked over to see Weevil smirking at us before moving away.

"Did ya see that! He was smirking at our expense! Look buddy! I lost a whole night's sleep because of you! Listen to me when I'm yelling at you!" I yelled and shook my fists angrily in the air. Joey had to secure his arms around mine so if I felt like going after Weevil, I couldn't.

"Welcome Duelist, follow the stairs to meet your host." Tall, pointy, hair guy declared loudly for everyone to hear.

The five of us stood at the base of the stairs. I looked up in distain, "Would it kill a rich guy to install escalators?"

"That castle's gotta belong to Pegasus" Yugi said.

"Then what are we waiting for, let's go!" Joey grinned, in spite of the situation. We climbed the stairs until, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tea stop.

"Hey, what's that?" Tea said. She struggled to see into the darkened forest.

"What do you see Tea?" Yugi asked the girl.

"It looked like…Bakura" Tea replied.

"Bakura? From school?" Yugi wasn't sure that he heard her correctly.

"Again with this Bakura thing?" Tristan said.

"What do you mean by 'again', Tristan?" I asked. I never met this Bakura guy, but, based on stories that the others have told me, he seemed like an okay guy.

"Where is he Tea?" Joey asked, he came up to look into the woods.

"Huh, that's two times I see him now, but he's not there anymore, maybe it's in my head" Tea murmured.

"Tea, we'll worry about Bakura later, now let's just go to the top of the stairs." I suggested.

"Yeah, alright." Tea nodded and we walked side by side.

I looked to make sure that Joey was far enough ahead that he wouldn't hear anything. "Tea? Can I ask you a question? Girl to girl?"

Tea looked at me as we walked, "Sure. What about?"

"Let's just say there are two friends, okay? And one's a boy and the other is a girl. But, recently, the girl has started to develop feelings for the boy. What should the girl do?" I chose my words carefully, so anyone who might be eavesdropping (Joey), wouldn't really listen in.

Tea smiled, "Alright, and let's give these two friends, names. The boy is Joey, while the girl is Elisa."

I did one of those surprised falls, but, didn't fall down the stairs. I got back up, "Dude! How'd you figure _that_ out?"

Tea shrugged, "Yugi told me. He said that ever since _you_ and _Joey_ ate dinner together, you've had that thoughtful look on your face. I'm sorry, but after paying attention to also how you are starting to act around him, makes it kinda obvious."

I fell silent, "Oh." I said quietly. Crap! I didn't realize this information. I let the topic drop, and only because we were at the top now.

"Your host is arriving" Another suit said. Pegasus walked out onto the balcony, and I growled.

"Boy what I would give just to get five minutes alone with that guy" Joey said with his hand balled up in a fist.

"I'll kidnap him just for you, Joey." I smiled briefly.

Joey grinned at me, "Thanks!"

My eyes narrowed as I took in Pegasus's smug posture, everything about him screamed, _I'm all better than you._

"Greetings Duelists, I am Maximillion Pegasus, it is my great honor and pleasure to welcome you all to Duelist Kingdom. You stand before me all the worlds greatest duelist, but come tournaments end only one of you will be crowned King of Games, I implore you all to assemble your dueling decks with care, with creativity and cunning, for this competition will test your skill like never before, to track your progress in the tournament each of you have been given each a dueling glove, you also been given two precious starchips, you must wager these star chips in each duel you compete in , to advance to the final level of competition for a chance of the 3 million dollar prize, you must win 10 star chips, 10 star chips will admit you into my castle where you'll face me in one final duel!" Pegasus smiled that polite smile of his.

'If I had the chance, I would give up my own soul just so Yugi could have his grandpa, and my mom would be free from Pegasus.' I glared up at the silver-haired man. 'But, I wouldn't do that, we're all in this together, like Joey said we're all a family, and like Tea said, we're never alone.' Oh no, was I turning sappy? Great.

"This will be a tournament unlike anything you have ever experienced state of the art dueling arenas cover this entire island, and intriguing new dueling rules will be in affect, I could tell what they are, but what fun would that be? You'll discover them as you compete or you won't last very long, remember play boldly, think strategically, and duel mercilessly, you have one full hour to prepare, both your cards and yourselves, when the skies light up with fire works the duels will begin!" Pegasus exclaimed and turned away before walking back into his castle.

The crowd cheered eager to start the tournament, and Yugi looked onward with determined eyes.

'The three of us, have to get into that castle, so all of us could have our shot at Pegasus.' I looked on with firey eyes, ready to duel whoever I had to, so I would get into that building. We left the area and walked into a empty field. Joey was silent, he turned around and held out the star chip that Yugi gave him.

"Yugi, I don't know if I can win this thing, I think it would be best if you just take your star chip back"

"Naw, you keep it, your sisters counting on you" Yugi smiled.

"Joey, if you gave that star-chip back, I would have to give you one of mine. We need you in this tournament." I said.

"Yeah, just try dueling the weaker ones first" Tea suggested.

"It's a matter of working your way up" Tristan said

"All you have to do, is practice. The more you duel, the better you're gonna be, Joey." I smiled at the blonde. Loud bangs interuppted my train of thought. We turned to see the Fireworks shoot off.

"Look, the fireworks, I guess the duels' begun" Joey said.

"Then let's do it!" Yugi shouted, a determined grin on his face.

"Yeah, time to get a duel on!" I laughed, actually, while the actual tournament is going on and beforewe confront Pegasus, this might be kinda fun.

"I'm glad you feel that way, my girl." A sinister voice laughed. We turned to see the last person that could ever be at this tournament. I knew that voice, I knew the black color of his hair. I also knew what he had done to me.

"Shawn." I could barely get the name out.

Shawn flipped his hair back and walked up to me so that he was towering over me, but I didn't let that intimidate me.

"What do you want, Shawn?" I growled.

"A duel, something to remember for when I crush you, but this time only in cards." He sneered.

"That _is_ all you want, right?" I couldn't help but let my voice squeak.

"'Ay! Who are you?" Joey demanded, he and Shawn were the same height, so when Joey stood next to me, I felt safer.

"None of your business!" Shawn barked, "This is between me and her!"

"No, when you threatened her, you threatened all of us." Joey refused to move.

I found my voice and stood my ground. "I'll duel you, Shawn. But when I win, you'll leave me alone, forever."

Shawn smirked and motioned for me to follow him. The last thing I needed was to go alone, so I grabbed Joey's hand and pulled him with me. 'Don't be scared. Even though Shawn is the biggest bastard that you've ever met, don't be scared. he can _smell_ fear.'

We stopped at a dueling ring and Shawn turned around. "I see you only have two star-chips, this will be a no brainer."

"Well genious, considering the fact that I haven't dueled yet, and the games _just_ started, doesn't mean anything," I retorted. I ran to the one side of the field. And the lift took me up to where I played. I put my two star-chips down and shuffled my deck.

"Are you ready, my sweet 'Lisa?" Shawn had mockery written all over his face.

I knew I had no reason to be afraid, but Shawn was a good duelist. Actually, he was the one who _taught_ me to duel. But, I've gotten better. And only because of Grandpa Motou's coaching and Yugi's help. I won't be defeated by him. I inhaled slowly and my Millennium Medallion glowed, washing away all fear and leaving only determination.

"I'm ready, Shawn."

"Duel!"

Shawn-2000

Elisa-2000

"Well, it's only polite to let the former student go first." Shawn smirked.

My eyes narrowed and I drew my card. I exhaled impatiently, I was off to a bad start. I don't have one good monster in my hand. But I did have a couple magic cards that might help. "I play this: Pot of Greed. Now this allows me to draw two cards from my deck." I drew, 'There we go.'

"Oh do you not have any good cards?" Shawn fake pouted.

"Oh really? Tell that to my Red Eyes Wyvern!" My dragon appeared onto the field at 1800 attack points. "I then place two cards face down, and end my turn." I put my Stop Defense spell card down and my Bottomless Trap hole trap card.

"You suck even more than usual. Didn't I tell you to _not_ hide behind your facedown cards. And to always have monsters that have 1900 attack or more?" Shawn was starting the controlling crap again.

"Having faith in your cards is completely different than not doing well in a duel, Shawn." I said simply.

"Who is this guy, 'Lisa?" Joey said softly.

"Joey, you are looking at the man who taught me how to play Duel Monsters." I met his brown-eyed gaze.

"What!" they all exclaimed.

"But what he's telling isn't true. It's always good to have _balance_ in your deck. And without traps and spell cards, you would lose anyway." Yugi shouted.

"Yugi, He's also the only person that I know with a deck that doesn't have one single magic card in his deck. All of his monsters are above 2000 attack points or more, and he's never lost a duel." My eyes narrowed.

"Right you are Elisa, now feast your eyes on this! I play Flame Cerebus, in attack mode! Now-"

I cut him off while I flipped my trap, "Sorry, but you just activated my trap: Bottomless Trap Hole! Now, your monster is instantly destroyed." I said calmly, while Shawn fumed. 'His weakness is his own weakness. Without any weaker monsters or spell cards, he's at a serious disadvantage. And I didn't know this until Yugi helped me build my deck properly. His own teachings will be the cause of his downfall!'

"I end my turn! Now go, before I get really angry!"

"And how would you control that? I'm no longer around you anymore, you have no more emotional punching bag!" I smirked. I drew my card, 'I love this card!' "Pitch Black Warwolf, attack mode!" My werewolf monster appeared at 1600 attack points. "And I place one card face down and end my turn."

"Elisa needs to be careful with what she does. If what she says is true and all of his monsters are 2000 attack points or more, he could do some serious damage to her life points." Tristan said.

"Sloppy mistakes, Elisa." Shawn shook his head, "But you're wrong about one thing, I do have a couple monsters below 2000 points, for example, I summon Solar Flare Dragon, in attack mode! (1500) Then, I place one card face down and end my turn."

I gasped as my life points dropped to 1500, "What!"

"Oh, I forgot to mention, at the end of each of my end phases, as long as this dragon is on the field, you lose 500 life points." Shawn smirked.

"Well, it won't be there for long." I drew my card, "I discard my Thunder Dragon to the card graveyard, so then I can pull two more from the deck." I pulled my dragons and shuffled my deck. 'I now just need a polymerization card.' "Now, Red Eyes Wyvern! Attack Solar Flare Dragon with your Dark Wind attack!"

"I activate my trap!"

"You can't!" I smirked as my dragon finished the attack and lowered Shawn's life points to 1700.

"What the hell? Why didn't my trap card work?" Shawn demanded.

"Because of Elisa's Pitch-Black Warwolf's special ability. Whenever this monster is on the field, no trap cards can be activated during the battle phase." Yugi explained.

"Now shove it!" Joey laughed.

I laughed and shook my head. "My turn. I now play Polymerization to fuse the two Thunder Dragons in my hand and they form: my Twin Headed Thunder Dragon (2800). This will be the monster that declares my victory!"

"Not really, I go!" Shawn glowered at me before drawing his card. "I summon Twin Headed Fire Dragon, defense mode." (2200/1700)

'Why didn't he attack? He could have seriously damaged my life points if he attacked my WarWolf. He's just not expecting my face down card.' I drew my card, "I activate this, Stop defense! Now I force your dragon to go into Attack position. Now Twin Headed Thunder Dragon! Attack, Thunder breath!"

"Ahh!" Shawn growled, his black hair fell in his face., "You got lucky. But, I don't need spell cards, or traps. Just like I don't need to depend on others! Which is why I drove you away."

I cringed, "What? What do you mean?"

"I had you winning tournament after tournament for me, and _you_ got all the credit. When you were using _my_ techniques. I had enough! So, I decided to scare you off and be a total asshole to you. So, I could get all the credit I deserve!" Shawn's amber eyes were cold and hard. "Now, once I beat you, I'll have everyone back home know that I was the one who came up with the strategy."

I looked on, unaffected. "You _do_ know that those tournaments you had me compete in were for begininers, right? You had me take total advantage of them, and I felt horrible for it! I knew I was a good duelist, and that I didn't need to be there, but _you_ forced me. You remember, right?" I, myself, didn't speak of it. But, Shawn knew once I brought it up.

"Just...continue with...the duel." He hissed through his teeth.

"You! Stop being such a bastard to 'Lisa!" Joey shouted.

"Joey, let it go." I said.

"But-"

"I'll tell you when I can, alright? But I'm kinda tied up here." I took another card from my hand, "I lay this card face down, and my turn is over." I murmured, the card I laid down was Dragon Nails, for my Red Eyes or my Thunder Dragon.

"Good, where was I?" Shawn drew his card, "..." He started to laugh, "I've drawn my strongest monster. You're done. I play Mist Valley Apex Avian, in attack mode(2700/2000)."

"So what? Your bird thing is still weaker than her Dragon." Joey pointed out.

"Yeah Yugi, why did he play a weaker monster?" I heard Tea ask.

"I don't know, but I do know what monster he'll be targeting." Yugi said.

'I know too, but, unfortunatly, I have no card to protect it. I'm sorry my WarWolf.' I closed my eyes.

"Attack her Warwolf!"

I heard a grunt and a howl and I opened my eyes. My life points dropped 1100 points.

Elisa-400

Shawn-1700

"I need to do something, and fast." I drew, 'This is the card, the one I need to finish this duel. And this is the card that he gave me when we first met and became friends.' "I activate this: MegaMorph!"

"No!" Shawn yelled.

"And I equip it with my Thunder Dragon. The effect of this card allows me to _double_ the original attack points of one monster on the field, and I choose my Thunder Dragon!" Thunder Dragon(5600/2100). "Now, attack his Apex Avian! Double Thunder Breath Attack!" I yelled. My monster let loose it's most devistating attack and destroyed his monster, bringing his life points to 0.

Elisa-400

Shawn-0

"I...lost." Shawn was trembling from shock. He glared at me and threw his two star chips to me. I caught them and put my deck back together before leaving the platform. Now I was almost halfway there to getting into the castle. "I'll be back for you..." His voice died out as I was crushed by all my friends.

"Cool! You won!" Tristan shouted, patting me on the back.

"That was some duel, Elisa!" Tea grinned.

"I never knew you had that card." Yugi smiled.

"You were amazing, 'Lisa!" Joey picked me up and spun me around, while I squealed.

"No! Wheeler, put me down!" I laughed so hard, that I didn't even notice that my Medallion had glowed again.

When the celebrations were over, I saw that Shawn had vanished. I shook my head and we started to walk around some more, looking for one particular duelist now.

* * *

"So what's your plan?" Joey asked Yugi as we walked.

"Might as well stick with weevil, we do have a score to settle" Yugi pointed out.

"I was hoping you'd say that" Joey grinned at his friend.

"Yeah, now all we have to do is find the little dung beetle." I scanned the trees and all around until I spotted him on top of a small hill, grinning smugly at all of us. but I knew that was directly for Yugi.

"Weevil, I challenge you to a duel!" Yugi yelled to the kid. But Weevil just turned and started to run in the opposite direction. Yugi started after him, and we quickly followed. But then a bunch of moths swarmed us as we ran.

"He runs fast for a little dude" Tristan panted as he batted away moths.

"Maybe you run slowly for a big dude" Tea smirked.

'Why _is _ Weevil running away? He said that no one could challenge him, but only after he threw Yugi's Exodia cards into the ocean. Maybe it has something to do with those rules that Pegasus mentioned earlier.' My eyes narrowed. I saw that Yugi had stopped and we caught up to them at last.

"There you are, set the spider to the fly, you flew right into my trap!" Weevil exclaimed "Again!"

"It's time to answer for what you did on the boat Weevil!" Yugi exclaimed, and his Millennium Puzzle began to shine, leaving the confident Yugi that dueled Pegasus only a few days before.

"Alright Weevil, time to find out if your as good in dueling as you are running away" Yugi smirked, obviously awaiting the challenge.

"Was I simply running away or cleverly weaving you into my web?" Weevil pointed out.

"It's time to duel!" Yugi exclaimed at the shorter duelist.

"As you wish!" Weevil smirked. The ground started to shake violently and I held onto the nearest person for support, and the closest person was: Joey.

"If I fall and get dirty, I'm blaming you." I sweat-dropped.

"What have you done?" Yugi demanded. The ground shook and split, revealing a huge battlefield erupting from the crevaice.

"It's gigantic!" Tea exclaimed.

"Oh man!" It looked bigger than the platform I dueled on only an hour before.

"Man, these aren't going to be like the duels back home" Joey remarked, his eyes wide.

"You just stepped into a hornets nest and there's no way out!" Weevil laughed, but then he turned,"I'll just meet you on the field" he said and ran to his side of the arena.

"I don't like this, Weevil's a little too cocky" Joey said.

Yugi narrowed his eyes before walking to his side of the arena. He knew not to trust Weevil, so he was taking his time.

"I noticed that you only had one star chip Yugi, I guess I'll have the pleasure of eliminating you from the tournament, once you're gone, getting everyone else's star chips will be easy" Weevil grinned maliciuosly.

"Not if I take your two first" Yugi replied.

"What?" Weevil exclaimed.

"This will be an all or nothing match for the both of us" Yugi explained.

"Huh! Why should I risk all my star chips when you only have one?"

"Because I have something else I know you want… my whole duel monsters deck" He held up his deck for Weevil to see.

"So you'd risk your grandpa's deck? Fine with me" Weevil sniggered. "Winning all your cards will be an easy way of exterminating you once and for all"

"Exterminate?" Tea sounded worried now.

"Swat that little twerp like a mosquito!" Joey shouted up to his friend.

"Man, this is gonna be a good duel. Well, if Weevil would play fair, so never mind." I frowned.

"Sounds like a duel about to start over there" a boy shouted, from someplace. "That's Weevil Underwood, and who's the other guy?"

"That guy is Yugi Mutou, he beat Seto Kaiba, and I happen to be his best friend, Joey Wheeler. And this is Elisa, another duelist in the tournament, but these two," He pointed to both Tea and Tristan, "These two are trespassers."

Both Tristan and Tea freaked out on Joey, while I just stood there and laughed.

"I thought I wouldn't be seeing a Weevil Yugi match until the finals" The lead boy exclaimed.

"Weevil's the regional champ, no new kid has got a chance with him" Some other kid said.

"Well Yugi, my adoring public is waiting so we shall begin" Weevil said, more in an off-hand tone than anything else.

"Duel!"

Weevil-2000

Yugi-2000

Weevil drew a card and placed it onto the field, "Let's see how you do with my Killer Needle." (Killer needle- 1200/1000)

"You'll have to get through my mammoth graveyard first, this massive monster will match your insect, point for point" Yugi countered with his own monster. (Mammoth Graveyard- 1200/ 800)

"Attack!" Yugi shouted to his undead monster.

"Killer Needle, let's show the Mammoth your stinger, Attack!" Weevil yelled. The Killer Needle attacked and destroyed the Mammoth Graveyard.

"Wait! But they both had the same attack points!" I shouted, 'Great, another cheater that we have to worry about.'

"No!" Yugi scowled.

"Gone after one sting? He must be allergic" Weevil was smug. "Have you begun to figure out yet why I led you all the way to the forest area, if you just look around then you will see that this area, is an exact replica of our surrounding environment, one par wasteland, and one part forest, and who thrives in the forest? Bugs, the strongest, most powerful insects rule the forest, so as long as I play my bugs in the forest area, I get a field power bonus, I guess you just weren't listing when Pegasus said this tournament would have new exciting prizes in store for us, maybe if you were smart enough to steal the tournaments secret new rules, like I did, you'd be getting a field power bonus instead of me" (Killer Needle-1560/1000)

"He cheated, he led us here, cause he knew he'd have an unfair advantage" Joey flared up.

"Calm down, Joey. No need to get worked up over this." I said to the tall boy.

"Go ahead, call me a cheater, you're all just angry you didn't swipe the rules yourselves, because you didn't, little Yugi is about to get stung" Weevil smirked. But Yugi started to laugh.

'Alright, I'm lost.' I sweat-dropped.

"What, how could you be laughing?" Weevil demanded.

"Because take a look at your ferocious Killer Needle now" Yugi replied, he pointed at the disintigrating insect.

"What! Oh no! My monster! What have you done with my monster?" Weevil yelled. But his beady eyes widened as he gripped a new fact.

"Oh, I get it." I snapped my fingers. 'Mammoth Graveyard _also_ got a power bonus.

"Looks like my mammoth got a field power bonus from the wasteland area, just like your bugs do from the forest" Yugi grinned.

"The field points was supposed to be mine along" Weevil retorted.

"I kept wondering something on the boat ride here Weevil, why were we traveling to some remote island just to duel? But as soon as I saw this holographic display, it all came together, every monster has a type of field that it does its best on, kind of like a home field advantage, and what makes this island so special, is that it contains every type of field imaginable, so when you deliberately lead us to this spot, you were clearly trying to get some kind of field advantage"

"You're awfully clever to put it all together like that Yugi, but figuring out one rule won't be enough, there are surprises hidden under every rock and I know them all" Weevil said.

"You can beat him Yugi!" Tea shouted up at him, obviously all for the support.

'Yeah, but Weevil doesn't seem _too_ fazed by this new information.' I narrowed my eyes.

"Don't let that flea scare ya, he's bluffing!" Joey shouted.

"Really? Then let's just see how you handle this bluff" Weevil said "My Hercules Beetle will find a way to crawl under your skin"(Hercules Beetle- 1950/ 2600)

"It's way too late for Yugi to rebuild his deck now, he just has to figure out how to beat Weevil's monsters, and fast." I said.

"I play Feral Imp" (Feral Imp- 1300/1400)

I sweat-dropped; and that was not the way to do it. 'C'mon Yugi, what are you doing?'

"And now I'll add this: Horn of the Unicorn, so its magic will raise my attack points" Yugi activated his magic card. And Feral Imp's attack rose by 700.

"Oh." I felt really dumb now.

"You'll have to do a lot better than that, Hercules Beetle Attack!" Weevil shouted to his monster.

At the same time Yugi commanded his monster,"Feral Imp, Magic Lightning Attack!" But the beetle destroyed the Imp; not even fazed by the lightning attack.

"Yugi's attack didn't even faze that thing!" Tea exclaimed, her cerulean eyes widened.

"Something's Screwy!" Joey said, his eyes were narrowed.

"My Magic lightning attack should've destroyed your beetle. Is this another trick, Weevil?" Yugi demanded.

"No Yugi, I just thought you knew that all my monsters with a field power bonus were also resisted to any type of magic attack, and since my Hercules Beetle easily deflected your lightning bolt, he has more than enough power left to destroy your puny Feral Imp and continue to eat away at your life points" Weevil had a sarcastic edge to his tone.

"I really can't stand arrogant people." I grumbled and crossed my arms.

Weevil- 2000

Yugi- 1350

"Even that four eyes' weaker bugs are going to be tough to beat, so long as he's got that field power bonus" Joey replied.

I looked up at him, "Well, even though Weevil is a dirty, rotten, cheater. He _is_ a finalist, so it would have been hard to beat him anyway. Joey nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but it's not exactly like it can just be turned off" Tristan replied to our little dialouge.

Thank you Tristan. I thought sarcastically. Maybe later Joey and I could talk just by ourselves...

"That Weevil's a no good cheat!" Tea exclaimed.

"Your turn, make your move" Weevil glared at Yugi.

"So we're defending now are we? Very clever, since I can't see your monsters defense points I can't be sure I can beat it but even your strongest monster can't stand against my Basic Insect, not only does he get a field power bonus, but I'm upgrading him with a level three laser canon, and a level two power boost!" Weevil chuckled and activated his magic cards. And his monster gained even more strength.

"Oh man, this is one tough bug." My eyes widened.

"Now Yugi, for all the innocent little bugs you've squashed, stomped, crushed or fumigated it's… Payback Time!" Weevil leered and grinned creepily.

"I'll play this card" Yugi said, putting one card face down.

"I'm going to keep you on the defensive, attack now, with any monster and you will instantly activate this trap card" Weevil sniggered.

"Great, more that Yugi needs to worry about." I blinked.

"That Weevil's got Yugi cornered!" Tristan remarked, his hazel eyes were narrowed.

"Yeah, he can't even counter attack!" Joey added.

"As long as my trap card remains in play, your powerless to make a move against me! So does my tightening web make you squirm?" Weevil smirked.

My eyesight caught the sight of Yugi quietly placing a card facedown, 'Weevil's bragging so much, that he's not even paying attention anymore.' I thought.

"Face it Yugi, I got you totally pinned down and while your totally unable to attack me, I can attack you anytime I want, each turn you cower I create a new monster" Weevil summoned another bug monster, but then Yugi just drew a card and ended his turn. And the cycle continued on and on.

"Keep drawing Yugi, my army of insects just keeps getting bigger, I'm going to wipe out all your monsters in one bugs woods creek" Weevil laughed.

'Wait!' My sapphire blue eyes widened, 'maybe this is what Yugi _wants_! Maybe he wants to draw out all of Weevil's monsters so he can destroy them all at once.'

"Just look at our Yugi, he's so confident up there" Tea said, almost dream-like. Hello! Tea likes Yugi! I smiled a little, and I liked Joey. Heh, oh well.

"I know, when he's dueling, it's like he becomes a totally different guy" Joey said.

"You're right, Joey." I agreed. I remembered seeing Yugi change when he dueled Kaiba _and_ Pegasus. But _why_...?

"Well what do you know, I'm down to my last monster insect, and you know what that means Yugi? You're about to be exterminated" Weevil was brimming with bloated confidence. He was like a tick, bloated and arrogant.

"We'll see what my cards have to say about that" Yugi replied, and he drew a card, his serious expression shifted slightly. What card did he just draw? "Alright Weevil, I defend with the Dark Magician!"

"Excellent! I'll destroy your very favorite card first! Now my pet, power up your laser canon" Weevil chuckled, and then shouted "Attack!" But Yugi started to laugh. "Why are you laughing!" he demanded.

"Weevil, you're not the only one who can set a trap card"

"What!"

"You were so busy grandstanding that you paid no attention to the cards I put into play"

"But I thought they were all monster c-cards"

"Not all, while you loaded the field with your bug monsters I prepared a special surprise, the power of my mirror force trap!"

"Hold your fire!" Weevil shouted to his insect monster, but, unfortunatly for him, it was too late.

"Too late Weevil, you already ordered your attack on my Dark Magician and Mirror Force will deflect it right back at you!" The Dark Magician appeared on the field and the Trap that Yugi laid out activated, protecting his monster. But the attack was deflected, sending it straight back to Weevil's monsters; destroying them. And inverderntly subtracting their points from Weevil's life points.

"My life points are decimated!"

Weevil- 555

Yugi- 1350

"Yes!"

"Way to go!" We cheered.

'Good move, Yugi.' I grinned. But I laughed out loud when I saw Weevil's angered expression.

"You're a liar and a cheat, Weevil, but it was your overconfidence that allowed me to get the best of you. Your insects are decimated, your life points are low, and you yourself said before you have used up all your monsters" Yugi pointed out.

Weevil snickered, "Actually...I lied about that too."

"Huh?"

"I still have my most formidable creature waiting in the wings, and this uncounterable insect will sweep you down once and for all!" Weevil cackled.

* * *

HOLY CRAPOLA! This is one freaking long chapter! I thought it was awesome though. Hope you guys did too. The first people to review this chapter will get to have some homemade virtual cookies! And don't forget to vote on my profile


	5. Into The Hornet's Nest Pt2

Man, not my longest chapter that I've created. But, still fun to make, all the same. I encourage all of my readers to give me ideas on what to do. I love you all for reading, now continue on with the story.

Disclaimer: I will never own what belongs to someone else, unless I get it as a birthday present.

* * *

"Great play, Yuge!" Joey called out, fist pumping the air.

"He wiped out Weevil's entire army in one move" Tristan said.

"Oh yeah! Good job on zapping those bugs!" I grinned. 'Heh! Man, why can't I duel like him?'

"Alright! You got him on the ropes!" Tea laughed.

"Ah-Ha! Yeah right!"

"Mai" Both Joey and Tristan said at once.

I scowled, 'Great, _her_ again.'

"You losers don't seem to realize who your pal is up against, Weevil's regional champion; he's got moves your shrimp couldn't even dream of" Mai smirked and stood by me.

I looked at Tea, who looked extremely pissed. My eyes widened, 'Oh no, Tea looks like she wants to slap the crap outta Mai. That's my job.'

"Nobody asked you! So why don't you just take a hike?" Tea yelled at the blonde.

"And miss the chance to watch a champion like Weevil, as he turns this around, no way" Mai replied, looking down at Tea.

"Yeah, I mean Weevil really came from behind to win the regional's" Joey said, really paying attention to the duel.

"He's tough and sneaky" Tristan added.

"I wouldn't know anything, I fell asleep during the regional tournament." I shrugged.

"Whose sides are you two goofballs on anyway?" Tea rounded on the two boys.

"All I'm saying is for Yugi, this is his first official duel" Joey replied.

"And he's fighting a champ" Tristan said.

"Alright, stop being uncertain and root for Yugi." I slapped both of them.

"You may have flattened my army of bugs, Yugi, but you haven't won, I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve" Weevil laughed.

"You've done a whole lot of buzzing throughout this duel Weevil, but I'm still here waiting for the sting" Yugi smirked, challenging him.

"Since you're new to this whole dueling tournament thing, I'll try to make this simple for you, I'm gonna wipe that goofy grin from your face, now lets see which lucky bug gets to take the first bite, oh but this little bug won't stand a chance against all your ferocious monsters, oh well, I'll play in defense mode" Weevil bluffed, placing a card facedown.

"For a pro duelist, that was one sloppy mistake." I said. I knew Yugi had a strategy to counter Weevil's last move, but exactly how would he do that?

"I'll spring your trap Weevil! But first the monster recovery card, it allows me to call back all the creatures I have on the field." He activated the card, "Monsters, return to your cards! Now your trap has nothing to snare, and once my monsters are safely back in my deck the recovery card also lets me draw a new hand, now all I have to do is sacrifice one of my weaker monsters and you trap is sprung" Yugi shuffled his deck and pulled five new cards. He then summoned Kuriboh, "Kuriboh! Attack!" (300/200) Weevil activated his trap card, destroying Kuriboh and lowering Yugi's life points by 300.

Weevil- 555

Yugi- 1050

"Trap cards only work if they catch you by surprise, next time don't give your plan away" Yugi grinned.

Weevil started laughing maniacally "I didn't! I don't give a bees behind about that stupid trap"

"Huh!"

"I tricked you into recalling your monsters, so you couldn't attack this!" Weevil then summoned a simple Larvae Moth with a measly 624 attack points.

'It's only a Larvae Moth, what kind of damage could that cause?' I blinked.

"Sure he's just a little slug now, but the cocoon of evolution will change all that" Weevil chuckled.

'Huh?' I gaped, 'What did Weevil mean?' I watched as the card activated and the Larvae Moth started to coat itself with cocoon.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

"I was actually thinking just the opposite." I groaned in disgust.

"Ew, that's just gross" Tea cringed.

"Weevi'ls bug is just sealing itself in a cocoon" Joey blinked.

"Behold my Cocoon of Evolution, within that cocoon sit's my tiny little larvae moth and over the next five turns he will undergo a startling transformation, from harmless caterpillar to a great moth!" Weevil announced proudly, and a little smug too.

"Then I'll crack you cocoon before that happens" Yugi replied.

"Easier said than done Yugi, for my cocoon of evolution also gets a field power bonus from the wilderness around us, increasing its defense points, it'll be so strong, you won't be able to scratch its surface! Just five more turns Yugi, in five turns my great moth will fully evolve and finish you off"(0/2600)

"Oh man, that's one strong defense monster." I said.

"You're telling me, 'Lisa. The field power bonus makes that monster too strong!" Joey exclaimed.

"Gaia the Fierce Knight! Shatter that cocoon!" Yugi commanded the knight monster, but when it attacked; the move failed. making Yugi's life points take the hit.

"That's one turn down, care to try again?" Weevil cackled.

Weevil- 555

Yugi- 750

"Oh no!" Tea said.

"Hang tough Yugi, you'll pop that puff bag" Joey said. But he was interuppted by Mai laughing.

"Just what do you think you're laughing at?" Tea growled.

"All that stupid cheerleading you're doing, you make it sound like Yugi still has a chance" Mai said.

"Of course he does!" Tea yelled, and she started to go after Mai, but Joey held her back.

"Don't listen to her, Tea."

"Any duelist that has gone up against Weevil's cocoon of evolution has been totally trashed" Mai batted her eyes innocently.

"All of them?" Joey and Tristan exclaimed at the same time.

"But, Yugi's got us to help him beat it" Tea retorted.

"That's right. Have faith in your friends and yourself, and you can't lose." My eyes narrowed.

"Hear it growing? The more time you waste the more powerful it becomes" Weevil said. "Tick Tock, Tick Tock, just four more turns until my ultimate insect emerges, then you can stop worrying about how you're going to destroy it, and start worrying about how it's going to destroy you!"

Yugi seemed deep in thought, but then he decided to finally set one card face down on the field.

"Huh, you're wasting your turn; no defense will save your life points once my moth is out" Weevil smirked. All right; that nasely voice it gettin' on my nerves.

"Hang in there, Yugi" Tea yelled

"You gotta win this for your grandpa; he's counting on you" Joey shouted.

"Remember that!" I called.

"I know he is" Yugi said.

"Then you can't keep letting this little creep push you around, Yugi you gotta get fired up!"

"So do you guys sit around and work out these lame cheers or do they just come to you? I mean, don't you realize that your pep talk nonsense only distracts Yugi from the game?" Mai sighed.

"How would you know, I bet no one's even wanted to be your friend let alone care enough to cheer you on" Tea scowled.

"Okay, it's official, you are now my bestest friend!" I laughed.

"Friends haven't help Yugi any, he's losing" Mai pointed out, but then she looked back up and her expression changed immediately. "Huh?"

I saw Yugi give us a thumbs up and smiled at us. 'Okay, something we did helped him figure something out. But what?'

"Yeah!" We cheered.

"Well Mai, by the look on Yugi's face I'd say that having friends did help him out, so there" Tea scoffed and stuck out her tongue.

"Tea, may I ask why you don't like Miss Mai Valentine?" I grinned, but I was silenced by a death glare from her, so, I, shut up.

"Go Curse of Dragon! Take Flight!" Yugi shouted to his dragon. (2000/1500) "And I'll combine it with this Magic Card, Attack with dragon flame!"

"What do you think you're doing? You know your little fire fly can't hurt my cocoon" Weevil said, but then he frowned when he saw Yugi laughing. "Why are you laughing?" Weevil demanded.

"Whoever said I was aiming for your cocoon? I combined my burning land magic card with my Curse of Dragon to destroy the forest all around your cocoon" Yugi smirked.

"No forest! That means I lose my field power bonus!" Weevil shrieked.

"Exactly, your cocoon was too tough to attack directly, but without its field power bonus it's just a big target"

Cocoon of Evolution- Attack: 0; Defense: 2000

"Now, let's try this again, Gaia the fierce knight, attack!" Yugi commanded, the Warrior attacked, leaving a gaping hole in the cocoon.

"He did it!" Tea exclaimed.

"Popped it open like a zit!" Joey shouted.

I shook my head and slapped Joey lightly, "Wrong analogy there, Joey. Please, that was disgusting."

Only a small hole appeared, "huh?" Yugi said  
"Is it still alive?" Tea blinked in surprise.

"I got a bad feeling we're about to find out" Joey said in response.

"See anything?" Tea asked.

Joey strained his eyes, "It's still…It's still moving"

"You're surprised?" Mai sighed.

"Actually, knowing how Weevil is, I'm kinda not." I said dryly.

"Huh!" Yugi exclaimed

"It must've evolved enough to survive" Joey said.

"No kidding." I said.

"I told you Weevil was good" Mai interrupted

"I'm impressed that you pierced my cocoon Yugi but still you were unable to stop the evolution of my ultimate insect! The Great Moth!"

The Great Moth- Attack: 2600; Defense: 2500

"But I thought, it took five turns" Yugi said

"So you stopped him one turn early, he still strong enough to beat you" Weevil replied

"Oh no" Tea sounded really worried now.

I glanced over to Mai, and scowled, 'Grrr..she looks so smug right now. Now, how can we wipe that smirk off her face?'

"So Yugi, feeling out-classed yet or perhaps you're enjoying your first major-league dueling loss" Weevil sniggered.

"You may have gotten your prize monster on the field, Weevil, but I'll find a way to squash that oversized bug" Yugi replied, more of a promise than a threat.  
"You'll pay for that stinging jab with your life points!"

"Duel!"

"Great Moth take flight!"

"So be it! We'll settle this in the skies!"

'Oh man, the only monsters that Yugi have are that Knight and Dragon. And since the Knight can't fly, he's at a huge disadvantage. But if Yugi has a Polymerization card in his hand, well, that'd be a different story...' I frowned and glared up at the moth.

"I think it's high time that I pay back your Knight for demolishing my cocoon" Weevil said. And The Moth loomed over them, "This is it Yugi, my Great Moth will crush your defenses, slay your knight, and blast your dragon from the sky!"

"Not if I can help it, Weevil" Yugi retorted and threw down a card.

"But that's just it; you can't help it, Moth Hurricane Attack!" The Moth attacked with a cloud of dust within the hurricane force winds. The Beaver Warrior that Yugi had was destroyed, and his other cards were next!

"No! My beaver warrior, my defense"

"It's hopeless; nothing can stand against the ale force winds of my Moth Hurricane; your Knight will be totally blown away! That'll teach him to mess with my cocoon" Weevil laughed.

"Don't count on it. Weevil, you were so busy fawning over you moth, you didn't notice I played a Polymerization card" Yugi smirked.

"But…I thought"

"If I have two compatible monsters on the field, I can fuse them into one ultimate creature"

"I'm not some beginner! I know what fusion does!" Weevil snapped.

"Then you must know it increases my attack points, my fused Dragon-Knight combo is now strong enough to go head to head with your Great Moth"

(Great Moth-2600/ 2300)

(Dragon-Knight-2600/ 2100)

"I wouldn't be so sure about that! Look again!" Weevil chortled.

"What...No." Yugi breathed in surprise. "My Knight! He's losing points, and fast. But how, and why?" The Knight's points dropped by 100's, like flies dropping from the skies.

"It's poison, Yugi, poison particles from my Great Moth, every time it uses its Hurricane attack it releases tons of these particles, and your precious Dragon-Knight combo is poisoned by the deadly toxins"

"How's Yugi gonna get outta this one?" I murmured.

"Looks to me like my poison particles are taking their toll, Yugi" Weevil laughed.

Yugi concentrated and drew his card, from here I even could see the relief in his eyes and he grinned,"Yes! Ready to be rained down Weevil? Makiou the Magical Mist" Yugi activated the magic card.

"No, my poison! You're washing it all away!" Weevil yelled.

"That's right; Magical Mist washes the field clean"

"No fair, I was about to win and you save your self with a little drizzle?"

"What's going on in that head of yours, Yugi?" My eyes narrowed.

"Alright then, you may have stopped my poison attack, but I promise you've only won a brief reprieve; because my next move is one you won't be able to figure your way out of. Brace yourself for my ultimate insect's ultimate attack! Great Moth, Tornado of Doom!" Weevil shouted to the monster, and it did attack, getting the Dragon-Knight directly, destroying it. "A direct hit!" Weevil exclaimed and started cackling "Your little rainstorm didn't save you from that on,e now did it? Your Knight is toast, and you're almost out of life points."

Weevil- 555

Yugi- 50

"Yugi, keep fighting, you can come back from this!" Joey yelled to his friend.

"You're all delusional" Mai snorted.

"No, Joey's right Yugi never gives up, and we never give up on him" Tea said.

"That's right, so shut. The. Hell. Up." I glared daggers at the Blonde duelist.

"You're nuts, Weevil's totally annihilated Yugi's strongest monster combo. He's down to 50 measly life points, he can't win, so do me a favor and stop yapping" Mai shook her head.

"I won't stop yapping you self-fish pompous, bleach blonde, know-it-all windbag! Do us a favor and get lost, right Joey?" Tea sounded extremely pissed.

"Like you said; just ignore her, Tea, Yugi's in trouble!" Joey replied, his gaze connecting with Tea's for a brief moment.

"I know; what can we do?" Tea furrowed her brow in concentration.

"I don't know, but It'd be great if we could turn Mai in for life points" Joey smirked.

Tea started to laugh and she fell onto the ground, "Ha Ha! I wish!"

"Uh...Tea. Don't start embarrassing me, please?" I blinked and sweat-dropped.

"I told you all along Yugi never had a chance in winning this thing; He's wasted too much of his time listening to you losers, and Weevil keeps his mind on the game" Mai crossed her arms and met Tea's gaze without flinching.

"Then why didn't he see this coming?" Tristan remarked suddenly.

"See what coming?" We all asked, quizzical.

"Whatever it is Yugi's grinning about" Tristan replied.

"You're right, he's got a big smile" Joey said.

"He's not smiling, I think he's laughing" I said.

"No way!" Mai exclaimed.

I smiled sweetly, "Yes, way." I looked up at Yugi, 'But, what's so funny, Yugi?'

"Hey, Hey, What are you so happy about? Stop that sniggering!" Weevil shouted to the tri-colored duelist.

"Weevil, I know it will be very difficult for you to accept losing a duel, especially after spending so much time finding inventive ways to cheat, but if you thought bending the rules would help you win this match… you're wong" Yugi replied, smirking.

"No! This is a trick" Weevil shouted.

"You played dishonestly, so you expect the same of your opponents. But I duel with honor ,Weevil, and that makes all the difference"

"You've got nothing!"

"Here's what I've got, the mighty, Summoned Skull!"

"Whoa, what's that?" Mai asked in awe.

"Something that could win this match." I murmured.

"That's it Weevil, your insect won't withstand my next attack" Yugi said, matter-of-factly.

(Summoned Skull-2500/1200)

'Weevil still thinks that he has this duel won, but what he doesn't realize is why he won't lose.' I thought.

"There's something you overlooked, Weevil, my Magical Mist is still dampening this entire field"

"He's right! Everything's wet, My great Moth is totally soaked!"Weevil shouted.

"And my Summoned Skull attacks with electricity, making your water logged bug a giant lightning rod. I hope you're in for some fire-works, Weevil, because all this water boosts my monsters electrical attack by 1000 points!" Yugi shouted.

(Summoned Skull- Attack: 3500)

"Summon Skull! Lighting Strike!" Lightning formed from the clouds above, and fryed the bug, making it catch on fire. "It's over, I've won" Yugi sounded calm, cool, and collected.

"No, impossible, my moth's unbeatable" Weevil exclaimed and, fortunatly for him, passed out.

"Alright, Yugi!" Joey cheered.

"Way to go!" Tristan added

"Awesome! Great Job, Yugi!" I danced around with Joey, but I let go, my cheeks burning. 'Argh! Dammit, stop now, Elisa!'

"You won, I knew you would" Tea grinned.

"Impressive; I didn't think Yugi could ever beat Weevil" Mai kind of looked a bit pissed.

"Well, he did. So go bother someone else, please?" I grinned impishly and Mai huffed and left.

* * *

"But I'm the regional champion! The Regional champion!" Weevil was saying to himself, trying to convince himself that it wasn't true.

"You call yourself a champion, but you only won your duels through lying and cheating. True champions; they play with honor, they play fair" Yugi said.

"Don't waste your breath on this sneaky slug; he's a dueling disgrace, and I here by relieve him of his dueling gauntlet" Joey towered above Weevil and took the glove.

"There three star chips, that's an improvement, but I still need to win seven more" Yugi placed the two won chips in his gauntlet.

"Now you just need to catch up to me, Yugi." I smirked.

"That makes it a challenge, huh?" Yugi grinned at me.

"Hell, yeah!"

"Hey, 'Lisa! Don't count me out just yet!" Joey came up behind me and I jumped.

"Jeeze, Wheeler! Make some noise next time, will ya?" I frowned and met his gaze.

Joey pouted, "Aw, don't be mean."

I sighed and rolled my eyes before smiling. "I'm not, that's just the second time in a week that you've done that. Next time, if you don't make any noise, I'm drop kicking you to the ground." I saw Tea smile at me and I blushed.

She mouthed, 'Talk to him.'

I shook my head furiously, 'Hell no. I'm not saying anything until I feel like I'm ready to.' I watched Tristan and Joey go to talk to Yugi, "And that may not be for a while." I murmured.

* * *

Oooh, 'Lisa's got boy problems. Next time: Joey's first duel. And maybe it'll be in Joey's POV, who knows? *shruggs*


	6. Joey's First Duel

Ummm...Gomen. I am sooooo sorry that I haven't updated in like two months. Lemmie give you guys some reasons of why I hadn't updated

1: I've been working

2: I recently have been getting obsessed with Bleach, which means Ichigo Kurosaki for me.

3: I have been working on a new story project on my other account, so I kinda neglected this story.

I know this chapter could be a whole lot better, but I needed to get this done. I am sorry for not updating, and to tell you that I will not be updating too often, but I will try to keep up.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach

This chapter will be in Joey's POV

* * *

"Okay bring 'em on! I'm taking on the next player we see!" I was itchin' to duel now. Both Elisa _and_ Yugi had both dueled and won. Now it was Joey Wheeler's time ta shine!

"Are you sure about that, Joey?" Elisa sounded a little quiet. And my eyes widened in surprise; for as long as I've known her, Elisa has _never_ been quiet. I locked my gaze with hers and she blinked frantically, "I mean, it's not like you _couldn't_ win, I'd just say...be careful." She stammered.

I nodded with a determined grin on my face as I ran forward onto the cliff,"Here I stand, the next Duel Monsters champion!" I shouted, full of confidence. But then I furrowed my brow,"I better be the champion" I whispered. 'for Serenity's sake, she's always counted on me, even when we where kids.' I thought of the time when I took her to the beach when we found out that our parents were gonna split up, 'I'm your big brother Serenity, I'm going to take care of you. I'm going to win this tournament and the prize money. I'm going to make sure you don't lose your eyesight, and show you that beautiful ocean one more time, I promise.' The ocean air blew my blonde hair around.

"Look there." Tea interuppted my train of thought. I looked to where Tea was pointing.

"Duel Monster stadiums. Look at 'em there all over." Tristan was in awe.

"You said it; lots of dueling going on" Yugi agreed.

I smirked, "Right. I'm going in." I felt a tug on my jacket and I look down to see Elisa grinning sheepishly at me.

"I know you can do this. You have been training for weeks for this opportunity. I...uh...believe in you, Joey." She averted her eyes and walked to Tea.

The others wouldn't believe this; but I _have_ been paying attention to how 'Lisa has been acting over the past couple of days. I've noticed how she would blush slightly when she looked at me, and she barely looked at me anymore. How she would laugh nervously or stammer when she didn't mean to say something. Actually, does 'Lisa, _like_ me? I mean like _like_? I don't know, I've never had anyone like me before...

"Yo! Wheeler!" Elisa snapped. She glared at me with her eyes, they were filled with a blue fire that I've never seen before. "Listen to Tristan."

"You sure you wanna do this if you lose you give up your only star chip" Tristan said, almost expasterated.

"That's right" Tea agreed.

"I think he knows that, guys." Elisa sighed.

"Don't panic; you can do this Joey. You do know that, don't you?" Yugi said

"I hope you're right Yugi; this'll be my first official duel and I can't afford to get knocked out at the start" I grinned down at my buddy.

"True but not everyone here is a pro, I'm sure you can find some one on your level" Yugi said

I grinned at Elisa, who just smirked, "Hello, not me, big boy. Lemmie stress it out for ya, _beginners_."

I just sighed, "Fine." I looked around in the area, "Eh, I guess I should think about what kind of field my cards are best suited for, they're mostly monsters and fighter types, I guess this makes this makes this meadow region my kind of turf."

"That's right Joey, see? You know what you're doing" Yugi said

"Maybe." Elisa snickered, and I glared at her. She blushed and looked away quickly.

"Give it up crybaby you lost! Now give me your star chips"

_Hang on a sec, I _know_ 'dat voice_. I thought, my brown eyes narrowing.

"A voice that annoying can only belong to, Mai." Tea scoffed. We looked to see the obnoxious blonde walk to us. I could see the jealousy in Elisa's blue eyes.

"Well, look who's here" Mai grinned.

"Wow, Mai's already won two more star chips" I automatically said, hey, I couldn't help but be impressed.

"Two chips my ass." I heard Elisa scoff.

_She makes jealousy cute._ I heard myself think, wait, why'd I think _that?_

"Hey Yugi, are your duels going well?" Mai asked, a smile placed on her face.

"I get it." Elisa whispered and I looked at her, "She is trying to make Yugi duel her, by giving him compliments."

"I'm making progress" Yugi said, ignoring the comment that Elisa brought up.

"So you have three star chips do you? I might be up for a duel myself" Mai grinned at his gloved hand and the three star chips that had made their home in those holes. But, Tea, the jealous girl she is, reacted to the touch. Elisa even ganged up with her.

"Take her, knock her out of the contest and off the island" Tea was pissed, and everyone knew it.

"Yeah, and I'll be right there to help ya." Elisa grinned almost sadistically. And I sweat-dropped.

"Hm…You know, I'm definitely in the mood for a duel right now, so get ready because I choose to challenge you, Joey." Mai smirked and pointed, _Ah crap. She's pointing at me._

"Huh! You challenge me?" I sweat-dropped.

"Do you have the guts to accept? Get it? I wanna play you kid" Mai crossed her arms.

"Guess you heard about my skill" I tried to play it cool, but my voice broke slightly.

"Don't flatter yourself, I overheard you, Elisa, and Yugi talking on the boat and I know he gave you the only star chip that you have, my motto is take out the weakest players first and considering that you wouldn't even be here if Yugi hadn't given you one of his chips you've got to be the weakest duelist on the island" Mai smirked.

"Damn, you really are starting to irk me." Elisa said.

"Hey, do you have to be so… insulting?" I struggled to find the right word.

"This time she was being truthful" Tea deadpanned.

"Sorry, but I agree." Elisa also commented.

"Huh!" I sweat-dropped, _I thought you liked me, Elisa!_

"Mai's ruthless, don't duel her first" Elisa gave me a look, "Do you _want_ to lose?"

"Don't you get it? If you lose this contest you're out for good" Tristan exclaimed.

"Yeah right!" I scoffed.

"Yugi, you have to stand up for Joey, you have to fight her in his place" Tea commented on behalf of me.

_'Ey, I don't need to be protected! Damn you, Tea._

"This is his decision to make, show Mai what you're made of" Yugi looked up at me.

Elisa sighed and crossed her arms, "Hey, this is your decision, and if ya choose to duel her, then do it. Just know I'll be right here, cheering you on." She smiled at me.

"Right, she thinks I'm a pushover but she'll see" I grinned and clenched my fist.

"Yugi! Elisa!" Tea exclaimed, obviously shocked.

"You can't be serious, Joey" Tristan added.

"I've never been more serious, see? This is my chance to prove myself, to show everybody, don't forget gramps trained me! I'm mean sure gramps didn't get a chance to finish my training and granted I wish I had a chance to practice more before getting thrown into a tournament this huge with so many heavy hitters, but honest I think I can take her" I was rambling on now. Great.

"Man, you better be right, for your sister's sake" Tristan sighed.

"Yeah, you better not screw this up Joey" Tea said.

"I accept, let's duel" I frowned at the blonde duelist.

"Get ready to lose" Mai replied smoothly.

* * *

Both Mai and I were in our respective positions, ready to begin the duel.

"Go get her, Joey!" Elisa shouted, "Kick some ass!"

"Kick her butt!" Tristan added.

"Yeah!" I pumped myself up.

"Since you have one measly star chip, I'll bet one of mine against you" Mai scoffed and placed one of her star chips down.

_'At least this region'll give me a field advantage,_ I thought,but then my brown eyes widened "Huh? Oh no! what are all those mountains doing on my field!"

"The field we'll battle on is forty percent forest, forty percent mountain and the last 20 percent is meadow so deal with it or surrender" Mai explained coolly.

"Calm down Joey, you'll be okay! Your monsters will still get a field power bonus on the meadow part of the field" Yugi yelled out to me.

"Oh, yeah, listen Mai, not for nothing but I gotta ask you one question before we duel" I said, looking at her directly in the eyes.

"Hm, what?" Mai muttered,

"Why did you decide to take part in this tournament? Tell me Mai, why is it you duel?" My eyes narrowed.

"Why is it I duel? For all the comfort that I crave, designer clothing, and purses, anything to avoid real work, hot cars, and super charged, meant for living large!" Mai cried out in excitement as she imagined the objects that she craved.

I smirked,"So that's why you want the prize money? How selfish"

Mai snarled, "How dare you and try and judge me, who do you think you are? You pathetic little snot!"

"Hey, you're only dueling for things, but for your information some of us fight for the people we love" I was unfazed by her little outburst.

"You'll show her, Joey. Show her why." Elisa murmured.

"So to start the game off, Masaki the Legendary swordsman" I smirked, thinking that this could be a good start for me. "The field power bonus will bring his power up over 300 points"

Masaki the Legendary Swordsman-Atk: 1430; Def: 1430

"Hey, I made my first move" I grinned. But then when I waited for Mai to make her move, my eyes widened.

Mai started meditating and had all her cards face down so she couldn't see them.

"What do ya think you're doing?" I asked warily.

"Dividing my card, I have to mystically choose which one of them is the best" Mai explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Huh! What are you a psychic?"

"And the best card would be…The Harpies Lady! And her strength is boosted by the mountains field power bonus" She flipped a card over, showing the monster card.

Harpies Lady- Atk: 1690; Def: 1820

"I'll still take it on, attack!" I called out to my monster and watched as it attacked, _Heh, I got this, no contest._

"Joey wait! Land monsters are at a disadvantage to flying monsters, monsters than can fly have a magical resistance against monsters that can only walk on the earth" Yugi exclaimed.

"Idiot!" Elisa shouted, she seemed really ticked off, was it because I was duelin' Mai?

"So Joey blew it already?" Tea seemed worried.

"No, but he attacked to soon before he thought about what her monster was capable of" Yugi replied in a solemn tone.

"My samurai's sushi!" I exclaimed as the harpie destroyed it.

Mai- 2000

Joey- 1410

"Oh cards speak to me!" Mai meditated "And I'll choose again…without looking"

"How she doing that?" I sweat-dropped.

"He's losing it" Tea said

"Guess that mop head wasn't ready for this duel" Tristan added

"Hey, Joey, think about what you're doing before you move again" Yugi called.

"He needs to focus." Elisa's eyes narrowed.

_'How can she read the cards when they're lying face down? What do I do? Maybe this one_' I gritted my teeth, "Tiger Ax! My field power bonus should raise it's attack power, so it can take on the harpies lady head to head" I replied.

Tiger Ax- Atk: 1690; Def: 1430

"You're not thinking, it's still resistant to Magic" Yugi shouted.

_Huh?_

"Right, Tiger Ax is another handicap earth monster" Mai said as her Harpies attacked Tiger Ax and destroyed him.

Mai- 2000

Joey- 1020

"It'll take more than your land based wimps to beat my Harpies Lady, now I'll play this lovely card without even looking at it, I'll give you a hint, it's a equipment magic card, that well help me defeat your next card in one turn" Mai smirked.

"Don't even think about listening to her, Joey! She's just provoking you." Elisa said.

"Again with all that Psychic stuff" I sighed _'Can she see my cards too, since I can't see what she's playing I got to get defensive'_

"Running scared huh? Well let me show you my surprise, Cyber Shield to juice up my Harpies Lady!" The shield attached to Harpies Lady and her attack points went up to 2190.

"No, How's she doing that?" I gasped.

"Ha, this is so much fun, in case you were wondering the next card you were thinking of won't work either"

"Mai has ESP that has to be it, I'm gonna lose this duel match and the chance to save my sister!" I was now starting to lose hope.

"This game is mine! You can't win against me" Mai cackled.

"She's right, she's too much for me" I clenched my fists and looked down in shame.

"Joey, settle down, remember what my grandpa taught you about how to play duel monsters" Yugi called up to me.

"Don't let her rattle you! She's just trying to psych you out" Elisa yelled.

"Stay out of this! Your brainless cheerleading isn't going to help him against the superior power of my Harpie Ladies, don't you guys get it yet? Friendship doesn't win duels, never will, hasn't helped him, he's defeated and he knows it" Mai snapped.

"Not true!" Tea replied.

"No? I beg to differ, there can be only one champion, on this island on this game, someone can be your best friend today and your worst enemy tomorrow, once the competition forces you to face your friend in a duel, where's your friendship then? That's why the only person a duelist can trust is himself, I hope that your defeat today teaches you that lesson kid"

"He's losing it!" Tristan shouted

"He needs help! Yugi help him!" Tea yelled

"Joey, don't lose faith." Elisa murmured, her blue eyes wide.

"Don't listen to her Joey, we're here to help you, just like you're always there for us" Yugi said

"Huh!" Mai exclaimed

"What?" I looked at my friend.

"Trust me on this, she's just trying to divide and conquer a strategy that's been used for centuries, believe me, I know" Yugi explained.

"When you get that look in your eye, I believe everything you say" My eyes widened.

"Do you really think Yugi wants you to be the grand prize winner! He's a duelist too you know so eventually you'll have to take him on" Mai snapped angrily.

"That may be, Mai. But dueling against those you care about to see who truly is deserving of the prize, is worth it." Elisa said, calmly.

"She's right, we will have to duel" I sighed _'We are a team, but I also have to win the contest for serenity'_ "What do I do? Maybe Yugi and Elisa are right about this thing, I have to stop listening to Mai's Nonsense and start using my head, I just gotta concentrate on how to win the game" _'There's gotta be a way to beat Mai, If she's not psychic then there must be something else she's doing_' I thought as I concentrated, I smelled something _'What's that strange smell, I never noticed that smell when my eyes were open, I smelling a bunch of different perfumes, coming from…her cards, huh, that's it!' _I grinned as I figured it out, "I see through your card trick! You sprayed all your cards with different perfumes and by smelling each different scent you can tell which cards are which even if there face down. So you don't have to look in order to play your cards that way you can psych the other player out"

"How can an amateur punk like you see through my aroma strategy? It's just impossible"

"I gotta admit Mai, you really had me buying into the whole psychic power shtick; I was too freaked out to think things through because of that, but you're not a psychic at all! You're just a big fake!"

"Alright Joey!" Yugi said.

"That was great." Elisa high-fived Tea.

"Go get her, Joey" Tea called.

"You da man!" Tristan yelled.

"Guys! You were right!" I grinned down at both Elisa and Yugi.

"Just because you saw through my little psychic act, doesn't' mean you're going to beat me in a duel" Mai smirked.

"I think you're wrong, before you were winning by confusing me and trying to pit me against my friends, but now my mind is clear, and I know who to trust, all you got left are your cheap tricks and I won't fall for em anymore, I'm gonna blast your Harpies out of the sky with this" I replied and summoned my Baby Dragon card, the same card that Elisa gave me.

"Good Card, Joey" Elisa grinned, the same look came into her eyes that I've been seeing for the past couple days, and where the others thought I was a clueless idiot.

"I summon Baby Dragon" I grinned.

Baby Dragon- Atk: 1200; Def: 700

"Ha! That wimpy card is your grand play, I only wish it was worth some more so when I devastate you, it would do more damage to your life points, my card will be elegant egotist, it's magic will make duplicates of my harpies ladies, harpies lady 1, 2 and 3" Mai chortled.

"Oh no! it's three times the trouble" I gasped, but then my eyes narrowed, _Shoot! How in da hell am I gonna beat these things?_

"Now what? He was struggling when there's was only one" Tea blinked in shock.

"Don't give in Joey! You still got all kinds of moves left" Elisa encouraged me, she obviously knew what she was doing, giving me this card.

"What moves would that be?" Tea said

"I don't know, ask an expert, ask Yugi" Tristan said and looked at Yugi

"It's Joey's duel he has to figure it out" Yugi replied

"I don't have any cards strong enough to beat three harpie ladies" I frowned in realization.

"Ha! I'm going to keep using the magic of elegant egotists to double my harpies again and again, but while my harpies multiply I cant attack you, so it's your move" Mai laughed.

"An army of harpies, how the heck do I fight an army?" I groaned in frustration.

"Don't give up Joey! Think hard about her strategy she's been using one monster and strengthening that one monster card with a lot of magic, but there is a serious flaw in dueling strategy, Joey" Yugi said.

"Using magic on one card, that's true, she's just been using the Harpies Lady every turn, but if she has mostly magic cards, maybe the harpie ladies are her only monster cards, I bet if I can beat her harpies she won't have any monsters left to play" I thought about what Yugi said, and if I was right, then I could win!

"That's right Joey, now think, what card in your deck will help you win?" Yugi said

"Which of my cards, you tell me" I replied without thinking, _'Wait, maybe you did'_ I thought, "The time wizard, the must've been the kind of tight spot Yugi was talking about, now if I could just remember what gramps taught me about the way to use a magic card, it's my only chance but do I have them in my hand?"

"If I had known how long it was going take you to make a move, I would've brought a magazine" Mai sighed.

"Uh-oh, the time wizards not in my hand, I'll have to draw for it" I swallowed thickly as my heart began to quicken and I began to draw my next card. "All or nothing! Alright! It's the time wizard!"

"What good is that thing?" Mai asked, bored.

"Don't you know, the time wizard can make the time go faster, causing my baby dragon to grow into Thousand Dragon!" I shouted.

"Right Joey and that's not the only affect your time wizard will have" Elisa added.

"Baby dragon transform into thousand dragon!"

Thousand Dragon- Atk: 2400; Def: 2000

"So now you have a bigger dragon, big deal, my harpies still have greater attack power! Attack it my three harpie sisters! What happened to my Harpie ladies?" She gasped out.

"I warned you, 1 millennium has passed in the playing field and your harpies have become old and decrepit, face it Mai it's over for you and your ladies" Yugi smirked.

"I believed and the cards came through for me! Awesome! Go Thousand Dragon! Attack" I shouted out. Thousand dragon attacked and destroyed all three harpies at once dropping Mai's life points to 0

"He did it! Joey won!" Elisa cheered.

"I knew you could do it!" Tristan yelled

"Thanks guys!" I grinned and gave a thumbs up.

"How could I ever lose to such an amateur?" Mai looked down in shock.

"Hey Mai I tried to tell you, there's more to duel monsters than just kicking the other guys butt, if you're ever gonna be a real champion you gotta learn to care about some one other than yourself, isn't that right? Yugi?" I asked.

"Right." Yugi said.

* * *

Mai had left by now, leaving the rest of us in our thoughts, well more _my_ thoughts than anyone elses.

Elisa was chattering excitedly with Yugi and she met my gaze and smiled softly before quickly averting her gaze from mine. I smiled, now, I knew. I really did like Elisa Kura, and it wasn't just as a friend either

* * *

A/N: Yeah, kinda suckish I knw, but it's done and I'm giving you guys something halfway decent.

Review and you get Kuriboh plush dolls.


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